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61 fans airlifted onto Bldg. 510

  • Published
  • By Mike W. Ray
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  A helicopter hoisted 61 supply and exhaust fans onto the roof of Bldg. 510 last Saturday in just an hour and a half.

"I calculated that the pilot, Jim Robinson of St. Louis Helicopter, deposited one of those fans on the roof of that building every minute and 25 seconds," said Gary Jones, project manager with Trade Mechanical Contractors of Oklahoma City.

Capt. Dennis Hines, project engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the equipment included 33 exhaust fans that will discharge air from the building, and 28 supply fans that will draw fresh air into the building. All of the fans replaced older units that were disassembled and removed from the roof, Captain Hines said.

Each supply fan weighed 1,150 pounds and each of the exhaust fans weighed 850 pounds, Mr. Jones reported.

TMC had a pair of crews on the roof of Bldg. 510 to position each of the ventilation units and to bolt them in place. Electricians will connect power to the fans in the near future, according to Rob Lane, Tinker Support Services project manager.

As a safety precaution, Tom Duncan of Ma-Chis Kawv III, LLC, the general contractor on the project, coordinated with the Defense Logistics Agency to make sure everyone was evacuated from the building, which is a DLA warehouse, and his company blocked off nearby streets prior to the installation airlift.

The fans will work in conjunction with cross-flow ventilation louvers previously installed in the walls of Bldg. 510. The openings are designed to enable fresh air to enter the storage building, especially during Oklahoma's sweltering summers. The louvers and the fans are expected to exchange the air in the building every 15 minutes.

Control dampers have been installed inside the warehouse to open the louvers when the interior temperature reaches 75 degrees. Thermostats will trigger the exhaust fans at 85 degrees, to expel hot air out of the buildings and to draw fresh air in.