The U.S. Navy was faced with an aging fuel storage facility. Point Loma is the fuel hub for the Navy in the southwestern United States and the eastern Pacific. Planning and design were required to replace the existing 70-plus-year-old fuel storage facility with new, modernized tanks and equipment to meet the requirements of the 21st century. The facility, first established as a U.S. Navy coaling station in 1901, changed over time to store and dispense the required fuels. The bulk fuel aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) were of riveted steel design and were installed between 1932 and 1939. Full height reinforced concrete cylinders were added around the ASTs during World War II to protect from potential aerial and sea attacks. Bulk fuel cut-and-cover underground storage tanks (USTs) were installed at the facility between 1932 and 1954. There were a total of 54 tanks (28 ASTs and 26 USTs) for bulk fuel storage capacity in excess of 1 million barrels (42 million gallons). The facility receives and dispenses hundreds of millions of gallons of jet fuel and marine diesel annually and the Navy required the facility maintain operations during construction.
A construction project was conceived to replace all of the aged tanks and support facilities with new API aboveground storage tanks and piping and pumping systems with state-of-the-art controls. The project involved complex phasing and construction coordination in order to maintain operations. After three years of planning and design, construction began in 2009. Before beginning the main construction effort, demolition of portions of the existing facility was required. Temporary piping and pumping workarounds were put into place to accommodate the changing storage configurations.
Once the temporary equipment and initial facilities were completed, the actual work of the project began by demolishing the bulk ASTs while operating out of the USTs. To account for potential earthquakes, the soils under the new tanks were densified by the installation of stone columns. A ring of piping was constructed to allow each of the tanks to receive, store and dispense either of the two products handled at the facility.
Next, construction of product manifolds and a pump house were undertaken for movement of fuel into, within and out of the facility. Piping for receipt of fuel by pipeline, truck, ship or barge was then constructed. Facility controls, including tank gauging, valve controls and pumping controls, were next installed to allow communications with the worldwide defense fuel supply and inventory network. Controls are housed in the pumphouse and in a control building that oversees the fuel pier that is the primary receipt and dispensing portion of the facility.
After completion of the tanks and associated pumps, piping and controls, the new system was tested and commissioned prior to shutdown of the remaining original USTs. The remaining original infrastructure was removed from service. All above grade features were demolished and underground tanks, pipes and electrical ductbanks were properly closed in place to maintain stability of the hillside. In the fall of 2013, the facility was completed and is now fully operational.
At the conclusion of the project, the overall footprint of the operating facility was reduced by half and the efficiency of operation was enhanced considerably. A modern, environmentally sound and flexible facility for the 21st century is the result.
For more information on this topic, contact Grant Smith at (816) 822-3223 or email gsmith@burnsmcd.com.
For more information about the National Institute for Storage Tank Management, visit www.nistm.org or call (800) 827-3515.
