Colossal undertaking Published Dec. 6, 2007 By Staff Sgt. Charles Larkin 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. -- It was a scene that could've been straight out of the popular television show "Mega Movers." Members of the 509th Logistics Readiness Squadron and 509th Civil Engineer Squadron had to move a 70,000-pound, 1.2-million-gallon fuel tank some 120 feet to allow for repairs to the tank's foundation. The repairs were necessary to meet standards set by the American Petroleum Institute. "I have never seen anything like this in my twenty-one years of service," said Douglas Stevens, 509th CES. "This particular fuel tank holds slightly over 30,000 barrels of jet fuel." Before the JP-8 fuel tank could be moved, the civil engineers had to drain the tank of all fuel and then remove the vapors from the tank, to ensure the safety of the personnel working on or around the fuel tank. Once the tank was cleared of fuel, it was elevated several feet in the air by using four air bellows placed beneath the tank and inflated with a little more than 100 pounds of pressure per square inch. The air bellows are made up of approximately 40 layers of high density Kevlar sheets to ensure the extreme weight of the tank was properly supported. After the tank was lifted, railroad track segments and locomotive wheels were placed underneath the tank to safely transport it away from the previous foundation. "Everything went safe and smooth," said Robert Freeman, the site foreman of Tetra Tech Incorporated, the civilian contractor hired to assist with the move. The foundation will be replaced, along with the steel base of the tank, in the coming months. The tank will then be returned to its original position and lowered onto the new foundation. A second, and equally massive, tank is scheduled to be updated to finish compliance with American Petroleum Institute standards.