RED WING, MINNESOTA, U.S.  — GSI is completing construction of its largest diameter bin to date for Red Wing Grain in Red Wing, Minnesota, U.S.

The 156-foot diameter grain bin has storage capacity for 1.38 million bushels of corn.

The large diameter was necessary to support capacity needs while meeting local building restrictions, said Jim Larson, general manager of the Red Wing facility.

Those requirements limited the bin height to 27 rings, or nearly 114 feet tall at the peak. The site is located on the bank of the Mississippi River, about six miles north of Red Wing Grain’s main operation, Larson said.

Constructed by local GSI dealer CEEC, Inc., based in Wabasso, Minnesota, U.S., the new bin required over 905,000 pounds of steel and took about three weeks to build. Its 156-foot diameter length is slightly longer than half a football field.

The new bin is an extension of GSI’s 40-series grain bin design, but some components required re-engineering to handle the increased load.

“A new roof design was necessary to support the higher peak load due to the weight of the overhead catwalk and conveyor equipment,” said Greg Trame, GSI director of engineering. “We also had to factor wind and Minnesota’s heavy snowfalls into the load calculations.”

Trame noted that the roof design includes three overlapping panels extending from the bin wall to the center, compared to two panels for GSI’s other bin sizes.

“The Red Wing Grain bin has 150,000 pounds of peak load capacity, compared to our previous maximum of 100,000 pounds,” he said. “As bins scale up and get bigger, the load numbers are higher, and we have to design accordingly.”

Trame added that the bin design was put into a structural model to determine stress tolerance levels for all components. Sections of the roof were assembled and tested at GSI headquarters in Assumption, Illinois, U.S., to confirm proper fit up of all of the components. GSI also had engineers on site during phases of the construction.

GSI 40-Series 156-foot diameter bins can be designed to capacities up to 2 million bushels.