Two Monster Tanks COOPERATIVE INSTALLS INDUSTRY’S FIRST 156-FOOT-DIAMETER CORRUGATED STEEL TANKS Frontier Cooperative Co. Brainard, NE • 402-545-2811 Founded: 1915 Storage capacity: 39 million bushels at 14 locations, with six Union Pacific and one BNSF shuttle loaders Annual volume: 50 million bushels Annual revenues: $330 million Number of members: 4,500 Number of employees: 96 Crops handled: Corn, soybeans, hard red winter wheat, sorghum Services: Grain handling and merchandising, feed, agronomy, seed, petroleum fuels, liquid propane Key personnel: • Randy Robeson, president/general manager • Bryan Choutka, grain manager • Robert Moravec, David City mgr. • Kevin Havolvic, Brainard manager Supplier List Aeration fans ......... Brock Grain Systems Bin sweeps ..... Brock Grain Systems Bucket elevators ...... Schlagel Inc. Catwalk .... Mid-States Millwright & Builders Contractor ................. Mid-States Millwright & Builders Conveyors ................ Schlagel Inc. Conveyor belting ......... Goodyear Electrical contractor ......... Sparks Electric Elevator buckets ........ Tapco Inc. Grain temperature system .... Tri- States Grain Conditioning Inc. Leg belting .................... Goodyear Millwright ................... Mid-States Millwright & Builders Motors .. Worldwide Electric Corp. Roof exhausters ...... AIRLANCO Steel storage .. Brock Grain Systems Steel tank erection .............. Lowe Contracting Services Inc. Tower support system .. Mid-States Millwright & Builders On Aug. 26 2010, more than 900 farm- ers and other local residents climbed a portable metal staircase, crawled through a hatchway, and walked into the largest cor- rugated steel grain storage tank built so far in North America. The tank was located at Frontier Cooperative’s elevator one mile due east from David City, NE (402-367-3019), and the visitors were attending an open house marking the tank’s completion in August. Since then, coop employees have been busy filling it with corn. The huge “M Series” tank, manufac- tured by Brock Grain Systems, Milford, IN (574-658-4191), holds 1.34 million bush- els when full. It stands 156 feet in diameter, 70 feet tall at the eaves, and 112 feet tall at the peak. And it’s one of two identical tanks that Frontier Cooperative installed in 2010 – the other was completed in September at Brainard, NE, about 10 miles southeast of David City. “We consider the coop to be an extension of the producer’s business,” says President and General Manager Randy Robeson. “We’re a part of their farming operation. “Their production is going up every Aerial view of Frontier Cooperative’s elevator at David City, NE, with its new 1.34-million- bushel Brock corrugated steel storage tank. Aerial photos by JH Photography, Spencer, IA. President and General Manager Randy Robeson. Reprinted from Sept/Oct 2010 issue of GRAIN JOURNAL
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Two Monster TanksCOOPERATIVE INSTALLS INDUSTRY’S FIRST 156-FOOT-DIAMETER CORRUGATED STEEL TANKS
Frontier Cooperative Co.Brainard, NE • 402-545-2811
Founded: 1915Storage capacity: 39 millionbushels at 14 locations, with sixUnion Pacific and one BNSFshuttle loadersAnnual volume: 50 million bushelsAnnual revenues: $330 millionNumber of members: 4,500Number of employees: 96Crops handled: Corn, soybeans,hard red winter wheat, sorghumServices: Grain handling andmerchandising, feed, agronomy,seed, petroleum fuels, liquid propane
Key personnel:• Randy Robeson, president/general manager• Bryan Choutka, grain manager• Robert Moravec, David City mgr.• Kevin Havolvic, Brainard manager
ElectricElevator buckets ........ Tapco Inc.Grain temperature system .... Tri-
States Grain Conditioning Inc.Leg belting .................... GoodyearMillwright ................... Mid-States
Millwright & BuildersMotors .. Worldwide Electric Corp.Roof exhausters ...... AIRLANCOSteel storage .. Brock Grain SystemsSteel tank erection .............. Lowe
Contracting Services Inc.Tower support system .. Mid-States
Millwright & Builders
On Aug. 26 2010, more than 900 farm-ers and other local residents climbed aportable metal staircase, crawled through ahatchway, and walked into the largest cor-rugated steel grain storage tank built so farin North America.
The tank was located at FrontierCooperative’s elevator one mile due eastfrom David City, NE (402-367-3019),and the visitors were attending an openhouse marking the tank’s completion inAugust. Since then, coop employees havebeen busy filling it with corn.
The huge “M Series” tank, manufac-tured by Brock Grain Systems, Milford, IN(574-658-4191), holds 1.34 million bush-els when full. It stands 156 feet in diameter,70 feet tall at the eaves, and 112 feet tall atthe peak. And it’s one of two identical tanksthat Frontier Cooperative installed in 2010– the other was completed in September at
Brainard, NE, about 10 miles southeast ofDavid City.
“We consider the coop to be an extensionof the producer’s business,” says Presidentand General Manager Randy Robeson.“We’re a part of their farming operation.
“Their production is going up every
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Aerial view of Frontier Cooperative’s elevator at David City, NE, with its new 1.34-million-bushel Brock corrugated steel storage tank. Aerial photos by JH Photography, Spencer, IA.
President and General Manager Randy Robeson.
Reprinted from Sept/Oct 2010 issue of GRAIN JOURNAL
year. My job is to take in that grain,put it away fast, and take it out fast,when the market demands it. Youcan’t do that with the old flats builtunder the old government storageprograms.”
Millions in ExpansionTo that end, Frontier Cooperative
has added 9 million bushels of storagespace at its 14 locations in the last fiveyears. The two tanks at David Cityand Brainard represent 2.68 millionof those bushels and cost approxi-mately $5.7 million.
Robeson is well aware that these new-est tanks are the first of their kind in theindustry, but notes that the cost perbushel makes such huge tanks attractive,approximately $2.21 a bushel at Brainardand $2.16 at David City. He notes thatthe cost would have been under $2,except for the addition of a new leg andpit at Brainard and extensive groundwork required at David City.
“Some of us traveled to Indiana tosee the M Series tanks in production,”he says. “I particularly liked the roofand the strength of the freespan con-struction. I also liked the wall design,with a layer of sheeting providing a gapof a minimum 1/16 inch between thesheet and the corrugated steel, whichdoes a lot to prevent condensation.”
To build both tanks, Frontier Co-operative selected Mid-States Mill-wright & Builders, Nevada, IA (515-382-6280), which has done almost allof the cooperative’s construction workin recent years.
Lowe Contracting Services Inc.,Crawfordsville, IN (765-866-8231),
did the bin erection.Construction broke ground in
March 2010, and the finishingtouches at Brainard were completedby mid-September. �
The Frontier Cooperative headquarters elevator at Brainard, NE, which also now hasa 1.34-million-bushel tank.
Ground view of the big tank at David City, with a semi grain-hauling truck for sizecomparison. Ground-level photos by Ed Zdrojewski.
Hatchway entrance a t David Cityshows Brock ’ s SMOOTHCORR s ide-wal l s y s t em, which f eature s a smoothpane l on the in s ide o f the corrugatedsidewall for added s trength and insu-lat ion.
The Tank SpecificationsThe two tanks at David City and
Brainard are virtually identical in theirspecifications.
Both have freespan roofs and requireno center support towers. The roofs aredesigned with a peak equipment loadcapacity of 50,000 pounds and groundsnow load capacity of 50 pounds persquare foot, enough to support today’sconveyors that move up to 50,000 bph.
They also feature Brock Smooth-Corr™ sidewalls, which feature asmooth-wall body sheet attached tothe inside of the corrugated sidewall.This reduces load stresses on the tank’ssidewall, inside stiffeners, and footersand boosts wind resistance. Air trappedbetween the two sheets provides insu-lation that reduces condensation andhelps maintain grain quality.
The flat bottom tanks also areequipped with 10,000-bph, 16-inchBrock Model ABC™ sweep augers,
which feature Brock’s Sweep-Tracker®
zero-bin-entry electrical controls lo-cated on the outside of the tank,allowing the sweep auger to be re-versed and thereby eliminating theneed for bin entry. The tanks alsoinclude a 52-cable Tri-States tem-
perature monitoring system.A set of six Brock 50-hp centrifugal
fans provide 1/7 cfm per bushel of aera-tion through the bottom 72 feet of graindepth and 1/8 cfm through the peak.This is accomplished through ductingcovering 70% of the floor space, with theassistance of six 2-hp roof exhausters.
Grain Handling at BrainardThe project at Brainard also in-
cluded the installation of an adjacent1,000-bushel mechanical receivingpit, which feeds a 15,000-bph Schlagelleg outfitted with 20x8 Tapco CCHDheavy-duty buckets mounted on a 21-inch Goodyear belt.
Both tanks are filled by a 30,000-bph Schlagel overhead belt conveyor,which also can bring grain from exist-ing concrete storage. The tanks emptyonto 15,000-bph Schlagel drag con-veyors housed in above-ground tun-nels through a set of 15 drops.
Ed Zdrojewski, editor
Ground-level view of the new tank at Brainard, which is shown nearing completionat the end of August 2010.
Brock Model ABC sweep with Sweep-Trackercontrol is designed for remote control to elimi-nate bin entry during operation. �
Schlagel 15,000-bph reclaim drag con-veyor in an above-ground tunnel.
