GSI Completes Construction of 156-Foot Diameter Grain Bin For Red Wing Grain in MN

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. https://ceecusout.com/, based in Wabasso, Minn., 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.

Engineering Challenge

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,” explained 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, 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.

For more information, please contact Jon Peterson at 402-658-4470 or jon.peterson@agcocorp.com