OIA Tank Farm

The jet fuel is stored in tanks that were originally installed in the early 1960’s. In order to meet the growing needs of the airport, it was now time to replace what was known as Tank Farm S with three new 35,000-barrel tanks (1.2 million gallons) and an entirely new pipeline system. The location of the new tank farm, called Tank Farm C, would also change. The original tanks were located on a soft marine environment, with the Hayward Fault Zone only six miles from the airport making the Tank Farm susceptible to seismic related issues.

McGuire and Hester’s key component of of the project was to run all of the tank farm piping from Tank Farm C to the airfield and to install the pumps, filters and process piping. Approx. 1,200’ of the pipeline crossed under wetlands. In place of the more conventional jack and bore method, we chose to utilize micro tunneling for its known accuracy, which was performed by Vadnais Corporation. McGuire and Hester then welded 14” x 40’ pipe sections into 80’ lengths and jacked them into the 1200’ mirco tunnel.

McGuire and Hester remained on schedule and delivered the new Tank Farm to Oakland International Airport, qualifying for an early completion bonus.