Project Summary
The District of Vanderhoof engaged Scouten Engineering to design an underground fire water storage facility for the Vanderhoof Airport. The design intended to repurpose two existing water tanks that typically stand in a vertical orientation. Scouten also performed a structural analysis of the existing tanks.
Project Description
The District of Vanderhoof engaged Scouten Engineering to design an underground fire water storage facility for the Vanderhoof Airport. The design intended to repurpose two existing water tanks that typically stand in a vertical orientation. Scouten also performed a structural analysis of the existing tanks.
Discoveries during the investigation led us to design structural reinforcements, using an arrangement of steel angles welded to the tanks’ exterior. The strengthening allowed the tanks to rest in a horizontal orientation and resist earth pressure loads. The storage facility included the two buried interconnected tanks. The tanks were buried to provide protection from frost and freezing of the water supply. Access to the tanks is provided through vented manholes on each tank, which went from existing openings in the tanks up to ground level. Water is drawn from the tanks by a fire suction truck through a flanged quick connect. The quick connect is accessible at waist level from the soil mound side used to cover the tanks. A steel pipe runs from the quick connect down to the bottom of the tanks to allow water syphoning from the tank’s bottom.