A special crane had to be brought in to replace a digester lid at the Knoxville Water Reclamation Facility Wednesday.

Water Reclamation Superintendent Patrick Murphy says crews welded and painted the lid over the course of two and half months to prepare it to be placed on top of the digester.

The old lid weighed 39,000 pounds and was put in place 30 years ago. Murphy says it was originally planned to just sandblast the old lid and repaint it, but electrical upgrades made a new lid necessary.

The new lid weighs approximately 50,000 pounds and will last anywhere from 30 to 35 years.

Looking inside the digester after the lid was removed was like a trip back in time as the two digesters at the Water Reclamation Facility are the originals from when the plant was first constructed in 1918.