Norton Consultants Pty Ltd has been awarded a tender from Adelaide Airport Limited for the replacement and upgrade of existing automation and controls associated with the Adelaide Airport JUHI hydrant refuelling facility at Adelaide Airport, South Australia.

Work has commenced on this significant project and is expected to be completed later this year.

The Adelaide Airport Joint Operated Service Facility (JOSF) Depot, as it currently exists, was designed and constructed for The Shell Company of Australia Limited in 1989-90 and completed, with some minor modifications in late 1994.

Upon completion in 1994, the Adelaide JOSF Depot comprised two large aboveground JET-A1 storage tanks and one AVGAS tank relocated from the original depot. Tanker truck loading and unloading facilities, a new Administration Office and Workshop, firefighting and emergency generator facilities were all provided as part of the new Depot, then operated by Shell Aviation.

There was an expectation at the time that hydrant facilities would eventually be required to meet the demands of a growing city, so allowance was made in the original site power system and piping design for electric hydrant pumps to cater for this future demand.

More than a decade after completion, Adelaide Airport Limited commenced the design and installation of the Joint User Hydrant Installation (JUHI), comprising the installation of four new hydrant pumps, a diesel hydrant pump, new standby generator and upgraded electrical instrumentation, controls and automation.

In 2004, as part of a general upgrade at Adelaide Airport, including a new passenger terminal and fuel hydrant, Adelaide Airport Limited initiated the design and installation of the JUHI Facility, comprising four new 110kW electric hydrant pumps, a diesel hydrant pump, a new standby generator and upgraded electrical instrumentation, controls and automation.

This JUHI Upgrade was completed in late 2005 and handed over in early 2006 to ExxonMobil, who had taken over the operation of the Adelaide JOSF Depot from Shell some years earlier.