Alternative names Union Water Tower Country United States Opened 1964 Cost 89,500 USD | Type Water tower Height 65 m Town or city Union Construction started 1964 | |
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Similar Kawameeh Park, Steel Pier, Jungle Habitat, Casino Pier, Clementon Amusement Park | ||
The Union Watersphere, also known as the Union Water Tower, is a water tower topped with a sphere-shaped water tank in Union, New Jersey, United States and characterized as the World's Tallest Water Sphere.
Contents
- Map of Union Watersphere Union NJ 07083 USA
- Sphere vs spheroid
- Related and similar structures
- References
Map of Union Watersphere, Union, NJ 07083, USA
Adjacent to U.S. Route 22, New Jersey Route 82, and the Garden State Parkway, the iconic tower has been a landmark since its construction. The tower was originally commissioned the Elizabethtown Water Company and is now owned by American Water. Standing 212 ft (65 m) tall, it was originally built in 1964 by Chicago Bridge and Iron Company at the cost of $89,500 and holds 250,000 US gallons (950 m3) of well water. Due to its proximity to an airport, at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration, a red stroboscopic beacon was constructed atop the tower in 2008, adding 6 ft (1.8 m) of height. The pedestal is used as a telecommunications tower.
The tower is a grey-white, and in the past has been painted blue, with the name of the town in large letter across the sphere. Its location at a major intersection of some of the state's busiest roads and proximity to Newark Liberty International Airport, affords millions of people each year a view of the structure. A museum dedicated to the watersphere is located in Austin, Texas and is operated by a former Union resident. Another famous sphere, sometimes called the "world's largest light bulb" is located nearby at the Edison Memorial Tower.
Sphere vs. spheroid
The website World's Tallest Water Sphere describes the distinction between a water sphere and water spheroid thus:
A water sphere is a type of water tower that has a large sphere at the top of its post. The sphere looks like a golf ball sitting on a tee or a round lollipop. A cross section of a sphere in any direction (east-west, north-south, or top-bottom) is a perfect circle. A water spheroid looks like a water sphere, but the top is wider than it is tall. A spheroid looks like a round pillow that is somewhat flattened. A cross section of a spheroid in two directions (east-west or north-south) is an ellipse, but in only one direction (top-bottom) is it a perfect circle. Both spheres and spheroids are special-case ellipsoids: spheres have symmetry in 3 directions, spheroids have symmetry in 2 directions. Scalene ellipsoids have 3 unequal length axes and three unequal cross sections.
Related and similar structures
A February 2012 Star Ledger article suggested a water tower in Erwin, North Carolina completed in early 2012, 219.75 ft (66.98 m) tall and holding 500,000 US gallons (1,900 m3), had become the World's Tallest Water Sphere. However photographs of the Erwin water tower revealed the new tower to be a water spheroid.
The water tower in Braman, Oklahoma, built by the Kaw Nation and completed in 2010, is 220.6 ft (67.2 m) tall and can hold 350,000 US gallons (1,300 m3). Slightly taller than the Union Watersphere, it is technically a spheroid. Another tower in Oklahoma, built in 1986 and billed as the "largest water tower in the country", is 218 ft (66 m) tall, can hold 500,000 US gallons (1,900 m3), and is located in Edmond.
The Earthoid, a perfectly spherical tank located in Germantown, Maryland is 100 ft (30 m) tall and holds 2,000,000 US gallons (7,600 m3) gallons of water. The name is taken from it being painted to resemble a globe of the world. The golf ball-shaped tank of the water tower at Gonzales, California is supported by three tubular legs and reaches about 125 ft (38 m) high. The Watertoren (or Water Towers) in Eindhoven, Netherlands contain three spherical tanks, each 10 m (33 ft) in diameter and capable of holding 500 cubic metres (130,000 US gal) of water, on three 43.45 m (142.6 ft) spires were completed in 1970.