About Preload | Prestressed Concrete Tanks Since 1930

A Heritage Of Leadership

Beyond the Ingenuity that created an Industry, Preload is sustained by the Passion of our People.

In 1930 a design concept was born in the cramped Preload offices of a New York City office building. This concept of placing concrete into permanent compression to create the most durable, efficient liquid holding structure in history would benefit the lives of millions and millions of people worldwide.

However, concepts don’t build tanks, and designs haven’t delivered life-sustaining water to millions. This can only be accomplished by PEOPLE, which is why our PEOPLE have been and will always be Preload’s greatest asset. Today our PEOPLE stand on the shoulders of generations of Preloaders passionate about building generational structures in the service of communities worldwide. We recognize this heritage and are committed to sustaining their legacy of leadership through our core values: the SPIRIT of Preload.

Design & Construction

History

The Preload Story

Preload’s story opens in the early 1930s with a small group of pioneering engineers exploring the possibility of using new high-strength steel wire to replace steel turn-buckle designs of early 1920’s prestressed concrete tanks. Preload applied this emerging concept of embedding prestressed, high-strength steel wire inside concrete to tanks with excellent results. Not only could concrete and reinforced steel design efficiencies be realized, but concrete in permanent compression is significantly less prone to cracking, more durable, less permeable, and dependable. Over the decade, Preload’s design and construction techniques were more fully developed with the proliferation of Preload tanks beginning in the 1940s.

Since the early days of development, Preload’s design and construction processes have experienced multiple advancements from developing the sliding floor/wall connection, wire-winding techniques, materials, steel shell diaphragm, integration of the dome roof, and precast construction of the core wall panels. However, the early concrete concept in compression has remained the consistent, underlying principle to Preload tanks.

After nearly 90 years in business and approaching 4,000 tanks constructed, Preload remains the unrivaled leader in designing and constructing prestressed concrete tanks. Preload’s original vision to design and construct the most durable, low-maintenance water storage structures persists to this day. The result of this vision is the wire-wound prestressed concrete tank which has proven to be a multi-generation asset and the backbone of utilities and industry. Specifying a Preload tank ensures design and construction by the most experienced and knowledgeable team in the industry.