New aircraft fuel system landing at Westover

  • Published
  • By TSgt. George Cloutier
  • 439th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. --  Gassing up planes at Westover is about to get a big improvement, thanks to a recently awarded $24.5 million fuel hydrant system funded by the Defense Logistics Agency.

The military construction contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District. The Corps of Engineers will manage and supervise the project which will be accomplished by Structural Associates, Inc. of East Syracuse, N.Y.

"We've been working with the same fueling infrastructure that has been here since the days of the Strategic Air Command when B-52s were flying out of Westover" said Col. Steven Vautrain, 439th Airlift Wing commander. "A C-5 can hold 323,000 pounds of fuel. This new system is going to greatly increase our ability to deliver that fuel to aircraft as quickly and safely as possible, which is absolutely mission essential."

"This project is going to totally replace the C-5 fuel hydrant system and support infrastructure on the ramp," said Capt. Brett Bailey, 439th Civil Engineering Squadron.

He also serves as a civilian with base civil engineering as chief of design. "The project will construct a pressurized hydrant fuel system with 14 hydrant outlets and two 210,000-pound above-ground fuel storage tanks," he said. "Work will include modifying the existing pumphouse, and constructing new truck fillstands, a hydrant hose truck checkout, product recovery system, and modifying the existing transfer pipeline. Upgrading this system will be a huge benefit to the 439th AW in continuing to meet its mission."

Upgrading the existing fueling infrastructure on the aircraft parking ramp is no small feat and comes with a huge coordination effort between many Westover organizations.

"With the project scheduled to start in September and take about two years to complete, that impacts a lot of operations and requires close coordination with many agencies here on base," Capt. Bailey said. "CE, Corps of Engineers, aircraft maintenance, airfield management, security forces, and fuels are all tirelessly working to ensure the project goes smoothly. We're going to be conducting an elephant ballet out there for two years and we have a world-class team doing it."