COUNTY RESHAPES HILL INTO POLLUTION-CONTROL SALT STORAGE

ECOLOGY-CONSCIOUS HENNEPIN COUNTY OFFICIALS HAVE RESHAPED A HILL IN THEIR STORAGE YARD INTO A NON-POLLUTING SALT STORAGE AREA. CO-DESIGNERS OF THE SQUARE U-SHAPED STRUCTURE WORKED OUT THE PLAN BECAUSE A SATISFACTORY STORAGE UNIT COULD NOT BE FOUND FROM COMMERCIAL SUPPLIERS. THE LARGEST STRUCTURE COULD HOLD ONLY 8,000 TONS AND WOULD COST $35,000. A 10,000 TON CAPACITY WAS NEEDED AT A LOWER COST. LAND SURVEYS SHOWED THE COUNTY COULD DEVELOP A 15 FT. DEEP CUT THAT WOULD BE 195 FT. WIDE AND 175 FT. LONG ALONG THE SIDES. ONE END WOULD BE LEFT OPEN FOR ENTRY. A BITUMINOUS MIX PREPARED IN THE COUNTY'S HOT MIX PLANT WAS LAID 2 IN. THICK BY A PIONEER PAVER ACROSS THE STABILIZED FLOOR AREA AND ROLLED. THE PAVING SEQUENCE REQUIRED TWO WORKING DAYS. BOTH SIDES OF THE WALL--AND A 10 FT. ROADWAY ON THE CREST OF THE DIKE--WERE COVERED WITH DENSE GRADED ASPHALT MIX CONTAINING 3/4 IN. AGGREGATE. AN 8 IN. ASPHALT CURBING ALONG THE TOP EDGE OF THE WALL TOOK TWO DAYS. THROUGH THE CENTER AREA OF STORAGE, FROM BACKWALL TO ENTRY, FIVE 20-FT. STEEL I-BEAMS WERE DRIVEN 5 FT. DEEP AND ANCHORED WITH CONCRETE. THE STEEL HAD BEEN SALVAGED FROM DISMANTLED BRIDGES. SEVERAL LONG STEEL STRINGERS WERE WELDED ACROSS ALL FIVE UPRIGHTS. THE UPRIGHTS WILL SUPPORT A REINFORCED POLYETHYLENE TARP FOR COVERING THE ENTIRE STORAGE AREA. THE TARP'S OUTER EDGES ARE ANCHORED BY BANKED SAND ALONG THE SIDES OF THE WALLS. A SECTION OF THE TARP WILL OVERHANG THE ENTRY-WAY AND SERVE AS A WATERTIGHT DOOR. AS AN ADDED PRECAUTION, AN 8 IN. DRAIN WAS INSTALLED AT THE LOW END OF THE FLOOR TO CARRY BRINE INTO A PLASTIC PIPE LEADING OUT TO A NEARBY 8 FT DEEP POND. THE FULL COST OF THE 36 DAY PROJECT, INCLUDING THE $1,400 TARP, WAS $13,500.

• Publication Date: 1971-12

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: p. 14-6
• Serial:
  • Rural and Urban Roads
  • Volume: 9
  • Issue Number: 12

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Ecology; Handling and storage; Salts; Seawater; Storage facilities
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00218961
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 11 1972 12:00AM