Dispenser Island Forms: New Sizes, Shapes and Material

One principle of engineering design is that, eventually, a single shape will take over as the best shape for a product.

	Figure 1: A Poly Concrete prototype engineered plastic island form (5’ x 2’ x 9”) protected by a 4-foot wide, U shaped 4-inch diameter barrier.

One principle of engineering design is that, eventually, a single shape will take over as the best shape for a product. A good example of this principle is commercial passenger aircraft. All commercial passenger aircraft have wings, a tail and the same general shape and appearance.

At the opposite end of this principle’s spectrum are refueling dispenser island forms, which come in many shapes and sizes to match each owner’s idea of the perfect form. This makes standardizing form sizes and shapes virtually impossible and increases overall costs for everyone.

The diversity of island forms has been slightly troubling to my firm, Poly Concrete Forms, Inc., because we use expensive molds for our engineered plastic forms. We have overcome some of the diversity problems by designing molded parts as modular building blocks. However, I believe the size and design of island forms can be optimized to protect dispensers adequately and meet the requirements of the fire codes and the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12204).

The Americans with Disabilities Act
When the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990, customers purchasing gasoline would pick up the nozzle and flip the lever to activate the pump. These controls were low and easily reached from a wheelchair, even when the dispenser was mounted on an island that was 6 inches high.

At about the same time ADA was passed, credit card-activated dispensers began showing up in service stations. The card controls were placed higher from the dispenser base than the control levers were placed on the older dispensers. Placing them higher above the dispenser base kept the electronic parts of the card systems well above the heavier-than-air gasoline fumes.

This higher placement was viewed as causing access difficulties for wheelchair bound customers. Under ADA, the US Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board—also called the Access Board—is required to issue guidelines for compliance with ADA requirements. The Board’s guidelines stipulate maximum height of controls, dispensers, receptacles and other operable equipment.

The provisions in the Access Board’s guidelines that apply to gasoline dispenser controls state that “If the clear floor space allows parallel approach [as distinguished from a forward approach only] by a person in a wheelchair, the maximum high side reach shall be 54 in.” A 54-inch side reach is the same as 54 inches above the driveway.

Complying with 54-inch rule
The card controls on retail gasoline dispensers that are mounted on a 6-inch-high island are about 60 inches above the driveway. To comply promptly with the 54-inch requirement, oil companies had to either set at least one dispenser at each facility on the driveway (i.e., without an island) or have an attendant available to serve wheelchair customers.

However, to meet the ADA provision and continue to provide the fire and safety protection provided by 6-inch islands, dispenser manufacturers retooled their dispensers. Today, nearly all of the manufacturers have at least one model that has all of the controls below 54-inches when mounted on a 6-inch island. The electronic parts are not affected by the gasoline fumes at this height because the fumes are two to three times heavier than air. Therefore, they are usually less than 18-inches above grade.

The moving target
The Access Board is considering a proposal from one of its advisory committees to lower the maximum high side reach from 54 inches to 48 inches. Approval by the Board of this proposal may require dispenser manufacturers to again redesign and retool their dispensers.

Bear in mind that the maximum side-reach requirement is general in scope—it covers controls and operating mechanisms in general, not just gasoline dispenser controls. Also, the advisory committee’s ration- ale for the proposed change was to bring the provision into harmony with the American National Standards Institute’s newly revised standard on Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities.

The following petroleum marketing organizations banded together in March to co-sign a letter to the Access Board urging the Board to stay with the 54-inch criterion:

• The American Petroleum Institute.
• The National Association of Convenience Stores.
• The Petroleum Transportation and Storage Association.
• The Petroleum Marketers Association of America.
• The Service Station Dealers of America and Allied Trades.
• The Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America.

The above organizations represent the vast majority of the service station owners in America. The Access Board had not acted on the proposal at this writing, but it is hoped that reason will prevail and the Board will retain the 54-inch height provision.

Regardless of the outcome, marketers must still comply with the fire code requirements for protecting dispensers.

Fire Code requirements
National Fire Protection Association’s NFPA 30A, 1996 (latest version) states that dispensing devices, except those attached to containers, shall either be mounted on a concrete island or otherwise protected against collision damage by suitable means and shall be securely bolted in place.

Similarly, Article 52 of the Uniform Fire Code states that dispensing devices shall be protected against physical damage from vehicles by mounting on a concrete island 6-inches or more in height or by other approved means such as posts or concrete-filled barriers.

The proposed draft of the new International Fire Code states that dispensing devices shall be protected against physical damage by mounting on a concrete island 6 or more inches high, installing on top of a protected aboveground concrete tank that qualifies as vehicle-impact resistant, or in accordance with Section 313 of the code.

Section 313 provides that vehicle impact protection shall be provided by posts or other physical barriers. Posts must be:

(1) constructed of steel not less than 4 inches in diameter and filled with concrete,
(2) spaced not more than 4 feet between posts on center,
(3) set not less than 3 feet deep in concrete footing of not less than a 15-inch diameter,
(4) set with the top of the posts not less than 3 feet above ground
(5) located not less than 5 feet from the protected object.

Other physical barriers shall be a minimum of 36-inches high and resist a force of 12,000 pounds applied 36-inches above the adjacent ground surface.

Changes in vehicle design
In the 1980’s, when the “dogbone” shaped island form was introduced, we were protecting the dispensers against collisions primarily by 4-door sedans with rear wheel drives and 23-inch overall diameter tires.

Today, we can foresee collisions from 4-wheel drive SUV’s with 34-inch overall diameter tires that can easily roll up over the widened ends of a 6-inch high dogbone island. I am not a lawyer, but I have given testimony in about 20 service station fire liability cases since 1970. My layman’s grasp of the liability situation is, if you can foresee a problem, like an SUV running into your dispensers, and you do not take adequate measures for protection against the accident, your defense against a product liability suit is dramatically weakened.

Consequently, the growing trend today is to protect each end of the dispenser with tall, strong posts supplemented by a small rectangular island measuring from about 5-feet long by 2-feet wide, to 6-feet long by 4-feet wide, under the dispenser.

The island is still needed even if there are barriers at each end of the dispenser. For one thing, the dispenser’s location for controls and displays is designed for ease of customer use based on the dispenser sitting on a 6-inch high island form. Also, the petroleum marketing organizations’ March 2000 letter to the Access Board (cited above) states very well the need for islands:

“Industry practice traditionally has been to mount these dispensers on an island, since these islands serve multiple purposes. From an engineering standpoint, they allow the dispenser to be mounted evenly, assuring they operate properly. From a maintenance standpoint, they allow the dispensers to be elevated away from rainwater and the on-going bumps and dings from everyday use. From a safety standpoint, they provide a buffer between the pump and the vehicles, making it more difficult to dislodge a dispenser from its footing.”

I believe the above benefits of the island can be achieved by using a small island form slightly larger than the base of the pump, protected at each end by sturdy posts.

None of the fire codes require you to protect the dispenser with barriers if the dispenser is mounted on an island. But most oil companies have recognized the advantages of the belt and suspenders approach of using islands and barriers together for dispenser protection.

However, under the three fire code rules cited above, as long as you have an island, there is nothing to prevent you from setting the posts at each end slightly wider than the width of the island on each side. See Figure 1. If the posts are close to the ends of the dispenser, wide-set posts will keep vehicle tires from running up against the sides of the island forms, except in very unusual situations. Of course, in any case, the posts must not be set so wide that a vehicle can drive between them.

The ultimate island setup?
The ultimate island set up, in my opinion, is a small rectangular-shaped island that is protected at both ends by very sturdy posts.

One major oil company in my area uses 4-foot x 5-foot rectangular island forms set 6 inches above grade with two 7-inch diameter steel posts filled with concrete and rising 52 inches above grade on the street end of the island. The posts are high enough to be seen and respected by the drivers of the largest SUV’s on the road.

The forms are steel and were painted when installed in Fort Wayne in November 1998 and again, nine months later, in August 1999. There are 10 of these forms in one station. The distance around the perimeter of each form is about 18 feet. Each time the forms are repainted, the painter must block the drive and, hopefully, carefully paint 180-feet of forms. If the forms were 10-foot-long dogbone islands, they would most likely have to paint about 280 feet of forms on an annual basis.

Alternatives to steel island forms, of course, are engineered plastic forms that never require repainting, because the color goes all the way through. However, if you would like to change the color, you may use a special primer to do so. Plastic forms will not rust, because there is no metal on the outside. Once installed, the concrete holds the forms together—not bolts buried deep inside the concrete, as with many steel forms.

Another thing to think about with smaller island forms: they are easier to break out when it’s time to rehabilitate the site.