Milestones Building & Design

Public Works Tension Fabric Structures  - Also See Salt and Sand Sheds

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Fabric Buildings for King County, WA Department of Transportation Customer:  King County Department of Transportation Location:    King County, WA Application:  Salt and Sand Storage   Storage for Coordinated Reduction of Waste Program   The King County Coordinated Reduction of Waste (CROW) program is a comprehensive construction waste recycling facility.  Road waste such as asphalt, cement, glass, brush, and street sweepings are collected and recycled with the goal of re-use.    This practice diverts debris from landfills and helps to preserve the environment.  The four fabric covered, steel truss buildings that are in use help the CROW Program redirect storm water run-off from debris piles and protects surface and groundwater from pollutants that would otherwise enter the system.    Milestones Building & Design helped King County develop a creative fabric building application that would let the CROW program function easily and efficiently.  The natural light inside the fabric structures reduces the need for added lighting and provides equipment operators enough light to view the areas they are trying to work in.

 

Capital District Salt Storage Building Location: Albany, New York Building Size: 150' W x 555' L Application: Salt Storage Building   Capital District Salt Builds Largest Fabric Covered Salt Storage Facility in the US   When Capital District Salt and Cargill needed to purchase a structure to cover their salt stockpiles at Cargill's 200,000 ton Port of Albany regional distribution center in Albany, NY, a tension fabric structure with steel trusses was the ideal choice. Originally contracted to haul salt from Cargill's salt mine in Lansing, NY to the Port of Albany, Capital District Salt now manages the daily operation of the distribution center. "Cargill needs stockpiles to relieve truck traffic and pressure at the mine. These huge piles let us deliver salt to Cargill's customers quickly," says Vincent Logan, Capital District Vice President. Giant tarps were once used to cover the 50 foot high pile from the weather but the tarps proved to be cumbersome and not always completely effective. Cargill and Capital District decided to explore other storage options. After extensive research, they decided to build a fabric covered structure to house a 100,000 ton stockpile. Measuring 150' wide x 555' long, this is one of the largest fabric covered buildings in the world. This tension fabric structure offers distinct advantages for salt and sand storage over other buildings. The clear-span environment, corrosive resistant materials, and quality engineering make this the perfect building for this application. It is a strong, environmentally secure way to protect salt from the elements. Once site preparation and foundation piles were complete, an installation crew of ten arrived to install the tension fabric structure.  Vincent Logan stood amazed, shaking his head; "I have never seen guys work like this in my life. They barely talk to each other. They don't have to; they each know their jobs. And they don't stop! Its not that they're rude, they're just busy working." Capital District Salt's tension fabric building carries a design load of 55 pounds per square foot and will withstand 60 mile per hour winds. The fabric building is designed with a one day snow-shed. The center purlin at the ridge is lower than the top edge of the truss. It serves as a divider bar. The weight of the snow presses downward across the purlin, creating a break in the snow. The snow simply slides off. From preliminary site work to move in was a mere 12 weeks. "We couldn't be happier. Each of the contractors came in, did their job and they did it on time," said Logan.                             The 83,250 sq. ft. salt storage facility took only 12 weeks to construct.   Only 2 days were required to erect the steel frame.   This fabric salt storage facility is able to house a 100,000 ton stockpile of salt.   The 150' W x 555' L x 72' H clear-span area provides a tremendous work environment.

 

Village of Bartlett Water Treatment Plant Location: Bartlett, IL Building Size: (4 each) 62' W x 90' L Application: Waste Water Treatment Plant - Fabric Covered   Tension Fabric Structure is Ideal for Waste Water Treatment Solution In 2003, the Village of Bartlett in Illinois purchased four tension fabric structures to cover their aerobic digesters at their waste water treatment plant.  Located just 40 miles from Chicago, the facility handles the waste water for 26,000 people residing in three different counties.  "We have twelve individuals employed with the sewer department who take care of the treatment plant as well as nineteen lift stations and the total sewer system within the Village of Bartlett," says Ron Johnson, Waste Water Supervisor.  "This treatment plant is considered a medium to large size treatment facility." The four fabric buildings are 62' wide x 90' long and cover two sludge tanks each.  "One of the problems we had in the past was controlling the temperatures during the winter as well as containing odors.  Since we have had the fabric covered buildings we've been able to hold the heat in during the winter so the bacteria can do it's job and we no longer have odor complaints from nearby residential areas," says Johnson.  "The aerobic digesters take in sludge from two parts of our facility.  One part is the waste activated sludge from the activated sludge system, and the other is the primary  sludge from the primary clarifiers.  The basic operation of the clarifiers is to stabilize the organic matters in the sludge.  From here we take it to a  sludge press and put onto farm fields." "The tension fabric structure is working very well for us; the building is not going to deteriorate and it's pretty much maintenance free." -Ron Johnson The Village of Bartlett chose fabric covered buildings because of the structure's ability to perform in a corrosive moist environment.  The galvanized steel frame system is clad with a triple-coated anti-corrosion barrier and a Gatorshield coating.  The polyolefin characteristic of the cover fabric is inert to ammonia gasses and is not biodegradable.  "We looked at a PVC system that was designed to completely cover the digesters, but that would have caused us problems of getting to the sludge for sampling, temperature readings, etcetera," says Johnson.  "We also looked at aluminum and corrugated steel structures, but the high moisture levels in this type of environment would quickly deteriorate metal structures.  We designed each of the fabric buildings to have a side access so we could open it up to lower a hoist down within the tank, clean the digesters or install equipment." Another benefit with the fabric buildings is the translucent qualities of the fabric membrane.  "We don't need any natural lighting in the tension fabric structures, nor do we require the installation of explosive proof fixtures or personnel needing to change light bulbs.  The white cover provides us more than enough natural light inside the building, even on gray and overcast days.  The fabric building system is working very well for us; the building is not going to deteriorate and it's pretty much maintenance free," says Johnson.                 The four 62' wide x 90' long fabric buildings cover two sludge tanks each.   The  buildings were installed over the existing sludge tanks and designed with side accesses for installing equipment and cleaning the digesters.   Natural light penetrates the membrane cover, eliminating the need for artificial lighting.   The fabric covered buildings provide odor control and year-round temperature moderation.