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The water tower
is 150 feet tall and resides on
top of a hill on the campus of
King Fahd University, Dammam,
Saudi Arabia. Access to the level
where the clock movements are,
required climbing a 100 foot rung
ladder in 115 to 120 degree heat.
Note the water pipe next to the
ladder to supply the tank above. |
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The old movements
were installed on all four sides
of the tower in 1971. Harsh conditions,
including sand storms and extreme
heat, caused the old movements
to fail. We disassembled them
as much as possible using mechanical
means. The remaining plate was
largely cut away using a torch.
The center arbor with hands still
attached on the outside were then
lowered by rope to the ground
below. |
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When clean rectangular
openings were made where the old
movements were, the new movements
were hoisted up. If you look carefully
at the center of this photograph,
you can see the new movement with
a 24 inch diameter aluminum disk
and hands already installed starting
up. A steel cable from the
hoist on the roof was used along
with two control ropes. |
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We custom configured
a hoist on top of the tower. The
system we devised using this hoist
eliminated the need for an expensive
crane or scaffolding. The key
was using a 24 inch diameter plate
that was painted to match the
tower to cover the opening for
the movement on the outside and
hoisting everything up preassembled. |
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Here you get
a good view of the movement, reddish
mounting frame, aluminum disk,
and hands pointing straight up,
preassembled and ready to pull
into the opening. |
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Once the movement
was pulled into the opening from
the inside, temporary straps were
installed to prevent an unexpected
fall before permanent mounting
was done. A dense foam gasget
was used between the back of the
aluminum disk and the outside
concrete surface of the tower
to seal against rain and sand. |
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One of my hosts,
Mr. Madan Al-Zati, gave me this
head dress to wear during the
day when outside. I was there
in July, and the sun and heat
can get downright dangerous. I
tried to schedule most of the
work on the roof early in the
morning or in the evenings. |
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This Mosque was
about a block away form where
I stayed. The architecture is
very impressive. Prayers five
times a day were announced
from the tower with loud speakers.
The green grass is a rarety there
and is the result of almost constant
watering. |
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The Saudis are
very private people. All the homes
that I saw on the University compound
had high hedges or walls and gates
covered in translucent material.
There were some beautiful designs
and a nice variety of styles. |
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Here, one of
the four movements is mechanically
installed with angle iron and
the back plate has been removed
in preparation for wiring. A very
talented electrician from Morraco,
Abderahim, assited by running
cables through pre-existing conduit.
The clock controller for all four
movements was installed 100 feet
below at the first level. |
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This photo shows
the bottom of the tower with the
ever present arched designs. The
blue mote around the tower normally
is filled with water, however,
the tower was being prepared to
have the tank recoated and there
was no water in the tower or the
mote.
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From left to
right in this photo are, Abderahim,
(myself), and Abrahim. I
worked closely with these two
gentlemen and others and grew
to appreciate their skills and
sense of humor. I made a number
of friends while I was in Saudi
Arabia and hope to go back again
sometime. |