There is some remeniscing on a local group about all the old petrol stations that used to be just about everywhere. It got us wondering where the tanks would be - especially those where the pumps would be behind the pavement and a pipe would swing over to reach the car and keep clear of the pedestrians. Would the tank have been on the surface around the back?
in the ground, usually
John expressed precisely :
I would guess it would have to be above ground somewhere and quite a small one. They would not have been able to bury it below ground with a building standing there, often they were just village high street shops, adapted to sell petrol.
There is a more modern 1950's/60's ex-garage plot not far from here, which sold lots of fuel. Its tanks were obviously underground, but the plot has since been abandoned and the garage/ large service station demolished 20 years ago. The tanks must still be there, as are the breather pipes, I do wonder if there might be a risk attached to the tanks being left there, but I suppose they will have been drained.
"Harry Bloomfield"; "Esq." snipped-for-privacy@NOSPAM.tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message news:rbged5$p8g$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me...
Would the tanks be left, or would they be dug out and filled in with rubble? Presumably if the tanks are left in place, there are restrictions on the depth of foundations and the weight of any building on top of those foundations, at that point. Or is it normal to sell the site with the tanks in place, and leave it as an exercise for the purchaser to remove/fill the tanks if needed?
"NY" snipped-for-privacy@privacy.invalid wrote in news:rbgeuq$t60$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:
Good questions - I believe they get filled with sand - but will be interested in any expert information. Also - what is the expected life of tanks now?
In the ground under the pumps and where the cars parked to fill up.
Drained and possibly filled with concrete.
I think I?m the 90s some were filled with foam.
Not a long term solution if you are going to build on them, but easy and cheap in the short term.
The tank will be underground. By law, abandoned tanks have to be filled with concrete.
It will have been surrounded in concrete too from when it was installed.
It costs so much money to remove them that NO-ONE ever does.
Petrol tanks left unused for a short time have to be filled with water. Long term abandonment means filled with concrete.
Once the residue of fuel in them disappears, air can get in making an explosive mix with the petrol vapour.
alan_m snipped-for-privacy@admac.myzen.co.uk> wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net:
The pumps were immediately behind the pavement - and in front of the office, Therefore - public highway.
NY brought next idea :
I was working away when the place closed and the site cleared, but there is no signs of the concrete on what the forecourt having been disturbed to remove the tanks. Had the tanks been taken out I would guess that the vents would have been also removed. The vents are 15/20 feet up in the air, at the very edge of the site.
Here's a walk inside the tanks.
Bill
My father used to install and maintain filling stations. The tanks are underground and AFAICR were filled with concrete when they failed their regular pressure test or were decommissioned for some other reason. As a small child, during the school hols I climbed down the ladder into many an (empty) tank - I presume they had only just been installed but ISTR there was a purging technique before entering used tanks.
Most were underground, still. I know when they want to build on these sites there are problems getting rid of the tanks and often the pollution if they have been out of use for some time and leaked. I guess some could be overground, but any in town locations had to be easy to fill and have little chance of fire etc. Brian
with an underground tank the delivery can be under gravity. With above ground tanks it would need to be pumped in.
Apart from when they are being replaced. I worked at a site where all the tanks were dug out and replaced, plus some extra ones. Major job.
Going to depend on the location. If space at a premium, could well be underground. But I can remember country ones with the tanks showing.
John snipped-for-privacy@PMail.com wrote in news:XnsABD4A81216383notrealnospamcom@81.171.92.236:
I was really only interested in those old (1940's - 50's) garages where the pumps were behind the pavement and typically had a pipe that swung over the pavement. The tanks could not have been under the pavement. Were they typically around the back and would they have been surface or underground?
Petrol tanks were always underground, with a minimum of six feet depth to the top. Then blanketed with nine inches of sulphate-resistant concrete. Derv or Paraffin were permitted above ground.(with a bund wall) Permanantly abandoned tanks were generally concrete filled, but sand or water where likely to be excavated. Purging the tanks prior to lifting the lid was either by oxygen-free nitrogen or dry ice. Entering an old tank without full breathing apparatatus was forbidden due to any sludge that might release fumes when disturbed. Tanks were due a pressure test at ten years, then every few after at the discretion of the Petroleum Officer. This again used to be nitrogen, but later water pressurised with a hand pump. The pipes to the pumps were disconnected and tested at the same time.
Happy days.
Cheers, Jim
Sometimes they were under the garage! There was a hotel in London with it's own filling station. The tanks were in a huge vault in the lower basement.
Cheers, Jim
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