|
Bayward of
the U.S. Submarine Base, on the port hand,
is the Naval Fuel Pier where contract tankers and, occasionally, naval
combatants load and discharge fuel. To starboard in this same stretch
is a
naval ammunition pier on North Island. At the end of Shelter Island
near the entrance range-markers is the outlet from the Shelter Island
Yacht Harbor.
A large measure of the small craft traffic will be found in this
vicinity,
particularly on weekends. At the other end of ShelterIsland is the
entrance to Commercial Basin where the majority of sportfishing
and headboat traffic is berthed.
After more than
100 years of
continuous service, the Fleet and Industrial Supply Center San Diego's
Navy
Fuel Depot is still forging ahead as it contemplates a $112 million
military
construction facelift. What is today known as Defense Fuel Supply Point
(DFSP)
Point Loma was set in motion
on
Sept. 24, 1901 when acting secretary of war, Elihu Root, by direction
of
President Theodore Roosevelt, ordered the transfer of 360 acres of land
from
the Department of the Army's Fort Rosecrans military reservation to the
Department of Navy for the purpose of constructing a coaling station.
Officially
established as the La Playa Coaling Station, it opened its
50,000-ton "coal bins" for business in 1904, under the command of
LCDR J.H. Holcombe, becoming the first U.S.
naval base in San Diego.
The "coal bins" were officially closed in 1926 when 800 tons of coal
were loaded on the cruiser USS New York, so she could steam east for
decommissioning. The remaining 15,000 tons of coal were later sold to
tramp
steamers and local citrus growers for smudge pots. Starting in 1917,
the first
bulk storage fuel tank was built. The last was constructed in 1954.
DFSP Point
Loma is located approximately six miles west of downtown San Diego on
what is known today as Naval
Base Point Loma. The facility currently occupies 200 acres of land,
utilizes 50
bulk storage tanks and operates 30 miles of carbon steel piping, more
than 3,000 valves, a 954-foot fuel pier and a
full-service petroleum laboratory. Of the 50 tanks, 22 are underground,
13 are
cut and cover concrete tanks while the remaining nine are welded steel.
There
are 28 aboveground steel tanks, 15 are riveted steel constructed and
the
balance is welded steel tanks.
|
 |
All of this is
about to change. A military construction project, MILCON P-401, has
been
approved for fiscal year 2008 to replace all the bulk tanks, pumping
stations,
fuel oil recovery plant and truck fill racks. The preliminary design
reduces
the overall footprint to 19 aboveground, welded steel constructed, bulk
storage
tanks spread over an area more than
50 acres in size. With the average age of the current storage tanks
bordering
on 70 years, the facility is in danger
of mission failure. The primary truck loading rack is 50 years old, the
lube
oil tanks are 40 years old, the fuel oil recovery plant is 30 years old
and the
pier shack/control center building and the pump house are more than 60
years old. In addition to replacing the
tanks the MILCON will address the following deficiencies.
<-- UNDERGROUND TANK ACCESS
|
