On 1st November, 2012, the demolition of the century old water tower at the Cobdogla Irrigation and Steam Museum was completed and the museum was able to reinstate operations, as listed in their program, for the time being. Restricted operations were introduced after two incidents occurred, which are now the basis of a review for the future of the museum by its owner, SA Water.

The first incident, in February, 2012, involved several 20kg lumps of concrete falling from the base of the tank due to spalling of the concrete. The tank was immediately fenced off to enable operations to continue while the fate of the tank was decided. An inspection of the structure confirmed that the concrete had deteriorated to such an extent that the only safe option was to demolish the tank.

The initial plan was to use a nibbler on the end of an excavator boom to ch