Garco Construction Inc., of Spokane, has been awarded a $32.6 million construction contract to build a massive jet-fuel storage and delivery system at Selfridge Air National Guard base, in Michigan, says Katie Fitzpatrick, a Garco spokeswoman.

The base, which is located in Harrison Charter Township, Mich., about 30 miles northeast of Detroit, is home to the Air National Guard’s 127th Wing Air Refueling Group.

The 127th Wing 2015-2016 annual report says the contract is believed to be the largest single construction contract ever awarded at the base.

The new system will support rapid refueling of KC-135 air tankers and other aircraft stationed at or deploying from the base, the annual report says. The current fueling facility, which uses trucks to deliver fuel to aircraft, is more than 40 years old.

New construction will include an above-ground storage complex with a capacity of 630,000 gallons of fuel, an eight-station hydrant refueling system that will enable the largest Air Force aircraft to “pull up to the pump,” and a fuel receiving site with a separate, secure access to and from the base, the report says.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Omaha District designed the project.

Construction is expected to begin in April, Fitzpatrick says. The project’s target completion date is late 2017.

The 127th Air Refueling Group operates a fleet of KC-135 aircraft, which mainly are used by the Michigan
Air National Guard for air-to-air refueling missions.

The project is being funded through the Defense Logistics Agency, a support agency of the U.S. Department of Defense.

While the Michigan project is 2,000 miles from Garco’s Spokane headquarters, Fitzpatrick says the company has completed similar projects in Alaska and Louisiana.