Cal-Portland

Project Description

In June of 2009, Cal-Portland called on Advanced American Construction, Inc. (AAC) to perform an emergency 24-hour troubleshooting and repair of the mechanical cement “Reclaimer Bridge” in their 30,000 ton storage dome silo. The mechanical re-claimer is the only positive means by which to remove the flour-like Portland cement from the silo. The silo was 80% full of cement when the failure occurred at the base of the bridge. The primary obstacle to success was to avoid the engulfment hazard present in the silo. AAC was able to facilitate the construction of temporary equipment required to reduce the level of cement in the silo and mitigate the engulfment hazard to acceptable levels. AAC provided a true turnkey operation by facilitating around the clock engineering, field machining, fabrication, and installation to provide a swift solution without incident. This allowed the owner to be fully operational before the end of the 4th of July holiday weekend, minimizing costs and delays to Cal Portland’s (Glacier NW) production.

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