On March 10, a very nice article was published concerning the water tower on the west side of campus. However, there is more to the story than most realize.

In 1891, William H. Jackson graduated from Iowa State College with a degree in Civil Engineering and formed a partnership with Berkley Moss, also an Iowa State graduate.

After constructing water systems in Fort Madison, Boone and Union, Iowa, Anson Marston, a long-time friend and mentor of Jackson and Moss, noted the significant success of his two former students.

Dean of the engineering school at Iowa State, Marston solicited the partners’ help in the design of an all-steel tank and tower for a new campus water system.

The design concept, a suspended bottom tank, was not entirely new, but this tank for the campus was revolutionary in size and scope.

Tank capacity was 160,000 gallons with overall height of 168 feet, making it the largest and tallest structure of its kind in the nation at the time.

Unique design features of the tank were its suspended hemispherical bottom, a pagoda-shaped roof and laced columns in an arc from the balcony to the foundation.

The company William H. Jackson and Berkley Moss formed in 1891 still remains today, known at Pitt-Des Moines, Inc., and has designed and constructed hundreds of famous structures across the world, most recognized of which is the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

And as Paul Harvey would say, “That’s the rest of the story.”

Andrew Earhart

Senior

Construction Engineering