Homeshield Fabric Tank Replacement - October 2003
Good Old Days at Homeshield
These are photos of the fabric tank being replaced. The fabric tank was part of the fire prevention system at the old Homeshield plant in Chatsworth. The old tank had burst open at the top, flooding the small building next to it. This building housed a diesel engine which, in case of fire, would start and supply water from the tank at pressure to the sprinklers inside the Homeshield building. The tank was custom made and has a 200,000 gallon capacity. The photo on the left shows the crane used to lift the new tank into place. The tank was folded and rolled up on a heavy metal rod at the place of manufacture for lifting by the crane. Replacement made October 16, 2003.
ENCLOSURE PREPARATION
The sides and bottom of the enclosure had to be smoothed in preparation for the new tank. The enclosure was constructed of four sloping walls of soil, about 15-20 feet high. Jeff Dehm and Ken Splane worked on this while Ted Dunn helped the representative from the tank manufacturer prepare the water intake.
ENCLOSURE PREPARATION
Carl “Buster” Aldrich placing the strap holders which were used to hold the edges of the new tank in place after it was fully unfolded..
ENCLOSURE PREPARATION
LIFTING THE ROLL OF FABRIC FROM THE CRATE
PREPARING THE ROLL OF FABRIC PRIOR TO MOVING TO ENCLOSURE
MOVING THE TANK ROLL
REMOVING THE TANK FROM THE CARRIER
HOLDING ONE END IN PLACE
UNPACKING THE TANK
UNPACKING THE TANK
THE TANK UNFOLDED
Every able-bodied guy was called from both plants to help pull the tank in place with ropes attached to the edge straps.
DETAIL OF TANK
This view shows several of the edge straps and a strap retainer used to hold the straps in place while the tank filled.
TANK FILLING
The tank almost filled.
TANK FILLING
Another view of the almost-filled tank. The tank had a dome when completely filled, also a vent was installed after filling was complete.
CLEAN UP OF OLD TANK SECTIONS
The messiest part of this job was the removal of the old tank. Guys with utility knives had to slice the old tank into strips, shown here, and pull them from the enclosure. Ted Dunn, Jim Masters, and Jeff Dehm are shown here.
CLEAN UP OF OLD TANK SECTIONS
They can’t be seen here, but besides the mud, what made this job really nasty was the thousands of small, red worms under the strips.
CLEAN UP OF OLD TANK SECTIONS
This view shows the strips being loaded onto a forklift for disposal. Jeff Dehm, Jim “Jim Bob” Masters, Ted Dunn, Melvin Lynch, and Ken Splane work at this.
