Below are some cool pictures I took of local underground fuel storage tanks from gas stations. The first picture was a tank from a gas station that was demolished. The last few pictures were from a Sam's Club gas station that was being built in my neighborhood. From the demolished station, you can see the two huge tanks removed from underground. I'm talking huge! I had no idea they were so big. We take filling up our gas tanks for granted every day we pull into the service station, but I bet we've never given a thought about where that gas was stored. Well, here it is in the first picture below.
These things are out of sight and out of mind, but what happens when a gas station is demolished? What are the environmental consequences? I got to see that first hand when one of my local gas stations was torn down this summer. I took this picture while waiting at the stop light. Just to the right of that massive piece of construction equipment are two underground fuel tanks. How did they get them out of the ground? I got to watch a massive crane hoist them up and drop them onto the back of a flat bed truck to be hauled away. The whole demolition took several weeks. Watching this progress from day to day was really a neat experience. I guess I'm a bit curious to know what they do with these tanks once they are removed from the ground. Can they be recycled? Do they become scrap metal for industry?
Then there are these pictures I took below of brand new underground gas tanks being installed into a new Sam's Club in my neighborhood. Again, these tank are massive. These Sam's Club underground gas tanks looked huge when compared to that excavator equipment digging right next to them. That digger itself was big, but it pales in comparison to the size of these giant purple pills.
Then there are these pictures I took below of brand new underground gas tanks being installed into a new Sam's Club in my neighborhood. Again, these tank are massive. These Sam's Club underground gas tanks looked huge when compared to that excavator equipment digging right next to them. That digger itself was big, but it pales in comparison to the size of these giant purple pills.
The name on the side of these tanks was Xerxes. A quick look at their website shows these fiberglass tanks can hold upwards of 40,000-50,000 gallons of petroleum. I'm not sure how much these underground gas tanks hold in the pictures I took. Let's just say it looks like a lot. Enjoy the pictures. The guy with a birds eye view at the fast food drive through window said watching these tanks come in and unloaded from the semi trucks was an incredible sight to see! Now, if I could only see them get dropped into the ground. That would be a pretty neat thing to watch.
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