Confidential Client

ARM provided geotechnical engineering services for a confidential client. Our client needed to replace eight large silos and equipment to meet new NFPA requirements for explosive dusts. The proposed construction included two 65-foot tall flour silos that would be housed in a building envelope. The new flour silo building would abut an existing building founded on caissons, and a maze of existing subsurface utilities was present below the flour silo site. In addition to the flour silos, a series of six additional silos were scheduled for replacement in a separate portion of the plant. 

• Programmed a series of test borings which disclosed a combination of soft soils, pinnacled limestone bedrock and subsurface voids
• Programmed two separate foundation systems based on the locations of the proposed construction relative to the top-of-rock levels
• Supported flour silos by micropiles designed to counteract compression, tension and lateral loads, while the remaining silos are founded on bedrock via load transfer mats
• Assisted structural engineers to assign lateral capacities of the micropiles 
• Reviewed load testing during the construction phase of the project
• The installations proved to be successful, and the upgraded silo replacements will safely serve as the improved manufacturing facility for years to come