Romtec is a design-build firm for many types of public and municipal buildings, and we have nearly 40 years of experience with public restroom buildings. From time to time, past customers reach out to Romtec to relay stories and interesting anecdotes about our restroom buildings. Many of these stories involve being in a remote area when nature calls only to find a Romtec building in the middle of nowhere. We also get stories where our buildings survive calamities of different sorts. Recently, a past customer contacted our Sales staff to let them know about a building that survived an incredible incident.
The Romtec restroom building in this story is from a project that was completed in 1993 at the Barre Falls Dam in Massachusetts. This building was for a US Army Corps of Engineers project, which manages the dam. The restroom is a two-room, Traditional Double waterless restroom with a covered porch entry. It now serves an 18-hole disc golf course on the lands that surround the dam, and USACE personnel have maintained the building very well.
During a recent bout of gusty winds, a large white pine tree broke off at the trunk about 8-feet off the ground. The trunk was estimated to be about 16 inches in diameter where the break occurred. From that break, the tree fell directly onto the peak of the roof of the waterless restroom building, where it subsequently bounced off and unfortunately crushed a janitorial supply storage bin. The roof suffered some damage from branches that penetrated the roof structure.
Since Romtec constructs all of its buildings out of conventional building materials, the USACE was able to repair the damage without any exorbitant costs. This story goes to show that a solid product with continued maintenance can have a long lifespan. This restroom has been in place for nearly 25 years and can still withstand a tree falling on it, and thanks to the USACE personnel on site, the restroom building still looks great too. Let us know any stories you might have about any of our buildings across the United States.
