Highland Tank and Flight 93

By Timothy Allinson, P.E.,
Murray Co., Long Beach, Calif.

Every once in a while I receive an invitation to visit the facilities of one of the manufacturers whose products I specify for an opportunity to see firsthand how their manufacturing is achieved. I always value these opportunities, because I find the transformation of raw materials into finished product absolutely fascinating. Manufacturing has become somewhat of a dying art here in the United States, as more and more of our products are produced overseas. I hope that, as the financial powers of this world of ours rebalance themselves in our global economic crisis, we recapture more manufacturing on our home soil.
One of the dwindling number of manufacturers still making its product here in our homeland is Highland Tank. Highland manufactures steel tanks for water storage, fuel dispensary, oil-water separation, grease removal and virtually anything else for which you might need a steel or stainless steel tank. Tanks can be atmospheric or pressure vessels, either single or double wall.

Founded in 1946, Highland Tank made about six tanks per year in the 5,000-gallon range during their initial production years. Then one day the phone rang, and founder Robert Jacob received a request for a single order of five tanks, to which he happily agreed. Minutes later the phone rang again, and the same client increased the order to 10 tanks. Another phone call increased the order to 20 tanks, then 50 and then 100. As the saying goes, “When it rains it pours,” and this was a storm of intimidating scale for Highland Tank. The next time the phone rang, it was Robert’s brother and partner Vincent, bursting at the seams with excitement, informing him that he just took an order for 500 tanks! So, in the course of one day, Highland Tank had increased their production by two orders of immense magnitude.

Needless to say, the Jacob brothers had to beg, borrow and mortgage their homes to purchase the steel required for these orders, but they succeeded in producing all 600 tanks on time. Highland Tank had become an overnight success, but not without a great deal of effort and risk, both factors of the long-embraced American dream.

Today, Highland Tank still produces its tanks in Stoystown, Pennsylvania, the town where the company was founded, as well as at five other facilities in western Pennsylvania. Their primary product line includes 5,000- to 60,000-gallon steel tanks, either single- or double-wall construction for either above or below ground installation. The tanks are made to order, so the product can be specified with virtually any array of materials and accessories. During our visit, we witnessed the construction of single wall steel tanks with 35,000-gallon containment dikes, as well as 6,000-gallon stainless steel tanks with blue steel double containment surrounds. In the yard there were 35,000-gallon Titan tanks, a blue steel interior tank with an exterior fusion bond high molecular weight resin polymer for secondary containment, which reduces weight and cost.

Regardless of the configuration specified, the construction methods are very much the same. Tanks are made from sheet steel welded together in pieces. The shapes of the pieces are a function of the size and type of tank. An atmospheric tank might be cylindrical or rectangular and made of 1/4" or 3/8" thick steel plate. After welding, the various tappings and connections are installed; then it is pressure tested. If the tank is double-wall, the secondary wall is then welded around the primary wall and a secondary pressure test is performed. The tanks are shipped with the secondary containment void under a 23" Hg vacuum to ensure the integrity of both the inner and outer tank walls.

Once all the welding, shaping, tappings and pressure tests are completed, the tank is prepared for finishing. First, the steel surfaces are pressure blasted with steel shot, triangular in shape, in what might be considered sand blasting on steroids. The surface is made so rough that an accidental brush against a rough tank could easily take the skin off your elbow. This rough surface is ideal for the application of finish material. Water tanks receive an NSF 61 approved polymer to keep the interior steel up to drinking water standards. Most fuel tanks are not coated inside, since hydrocarbons do not denigrate the steel surface. The exterior coating depends on whether a tank is meant for above or below grade installation. Buried tanks receive a polymer primer followed by 70 mm of green protective polymer to safeguard the tank for 30 years below grade. Surface installations are primed and given 30 mm of white finish paint for protection against the elements.

Surface installations are also available in a “Fireguard” design, which has 3" of concrete between the two walls of the tank, protecting it from accidental or intentional damage from vehicles or other potential threats.

This is a snapshot of Highland Tank today, a successful and thriving example of the American dream. On September 11, 2001, at 10:03 a.m., the scene was very different, as Flight 93 passed directly overhead, upside-down, at an altitude of 200 feet and a speed of 593 mph. The Highland employees who happened to be outside between buildings at the time were surely among the last people to see Flight 93 before it crashed into the ground only seconds later, two miles from the plant. Needless to say, one cannot visit Highland Tank without visiting the Flight 93 memorial that is, literally, in their backyard.
The day of our visit happened to be an unusually warm October day; it was Columbus Day, a work holiday for many people, so the memorial was well attended. It was also just one month after the 10th anniversary of 9/11, so the memorial had been well prepared for the president’s visit.

Prior to this visit, my knowledge of the Flight 93 Memorial was shamefully limited. Its development was slow, since the site covered many acres with many different owners, land that had to be acquired in an arduous process. Today, Phase 1 construction of the memorial has been completed. This includes a series of viewing benches of the crash site memorial stone, accessible only to family members of the 40 victims. The flight path just prior to impact is marked by a series of 40 stone slabs, each with the name of one of the victims chiseled on its façade.

Future phases of the memorial will include a Field of Honor, outlined by a ring of 40 memorial trees, a Tower of Voices with 40 wind chimes and a Flight Path Walkway flanked by large stone slabs, symbolizing the plane’s final approach to the crash site. I think a second visit will be warranted once the construction is complete.

You can learn more about Highland Tank at www.highlandtank.com and more about the Flight 93 Memorial at www.nps.gov/flni.

 

Timothy Allinson is a senior professional engineer with Murray Co., Mechanical Contractors, in Long Beach, Calif. He holds a bsme from Tufts University and an mba from New York University. He is a professional engineer licensed in both mechanical and fire protection engineering in various states, and is a leed accredited professional. Allinson is a past-president of aspe, both the New York and Orange County Chapters. He can be reached at laguna_tim@yahoo.com.