b'72 LAS FUELING Looking Forward During Phase II, contractors installed three 100,000-barrel In 2005, the Clark County Board of Commissioners established areplacement tanks and a new pump filtration system. They also Blue Ribbon Commission to study future fuel needs for the entirereplaced the load rack to make room for the new larger tanks. region, including all five airports in the county as well as Nellis AirThis increased the on-airport fuel storage capacity from the Force Base. Working in conjunction with LASFuel, the local airlinenearly 293,000 barrels achieved in 2011 to 502,134 barrelsthe consortium, the commission determined that it was prudent toequivalent of 18.5 days of usable aviation fuel. Phase II costs were maintain a readily available 15-day supply of aviation fuel. Theapproximately $40 million.annual fuel growth for LAS is estimated at 1.5% year over year. Getting It DoneLas Vegas is probably one of the most geographicallyAs president of LASFuel, Nolan Getty hasseparated population centers in the U.S., and that presents ushad his hands full overseeing stakeholder interests in the pipeline with some unique challenges, says Chrisley. If the fuel stopsimprovements program. The consortium alone includes 27 airlines, flowing for any reason, were only a few weeks away from beingand several other entities are affected by the unable to fuel planes, which would have a major impact on a keyproject, too.driver of Southern Nevadas economic engine.The commissions report, completed in November 2006,LASFuel is a consortium of member recommended a series of fuel system improvements to increaseairlines working together as a non-profit onsite storage capacity and overall throughput. Phase I,corporation to manage our fuel interests at completed in 2011 at an approximate cost of $30 million, includedLAS, says Getty, who works for Southwest the installation of a 65,000-barrel tank to replace two existingAirlines, the largest fuel consumer at LAS. tanks. Improved system controls and a larger electrical buildingOur member airlines are directly aware ofNOLAN GETTYwere also added. Combined, the Phase I improvements increasedfuel supply and demand and have a vested the usable on-airport fuel storage capacity by 25%, from 234,278interest in the buying power, operational efficiency and increased barrels to 292,890, which equated to 13.9 days of fuel.system capacity working together affords us.In short, he sees the consortiums role as vital for fiscal Argus_PrintR5.pdf 1 4/8/19 7:06 AM responsibility and situational stability in the large-scale fuel management needed at LAS. Thats why LASFuel took the drivers seat regarding the new tanks, system upgrades and, most recently, the new pipeline. Pre-COVID, there were days when the airlines serving LAS were consuming more fuel than we were able to pipe in. We understood that the limitation was fuel system infrastructure, Getty explains. When the idea to improve the infrastructure began to take shape, LASFuel determined that it was to our advantage to own the system we rely on. This gives us control over future upgrades, reduces long-term costs, and eliminates throughput fees we would otherwise be paying to an operator forever.CThe 27 members of the consortium pooled their resources to M fund the $70 million of improvements required to bring the new Y fuel system online, but getting it designed and built required CM more than money. The task of constructing multiple miles of steel MY pipeline through one of the biggest entertainment capitals of the world was no small undertaking.CYThe existing pipeline varied in diameter from 12 inches to CMYjust 6 inches, which resulted in a bottleneck in the line, Getty K explains. This project replaced that with a 16-inch bypass line that eliminates the bottleneck and increases the rate and volume of fuel that can be received at one time. However, there was a significant amount of red tape to get through along the way. Thats where our partnership with Argus became a real asset.As one of leading fueling infrastructure engineering firms in North America, Argus Consulting tapped into its experience in aviation and several other industries to tackle the LAS pipeline project. In addition to acting as construction manager, Argus also served as a project advisor before construction began.May | June 2022AirportImprovement.com'