Sunday, May 31, 2020

Transcona grain elevator rescue


In 1913 The CPR built a large grain elevator in Transcona at the east side of Winnipeg Manitoba. The building was constructed of concrete, then a fairly new material, built on a floating foundation, and stood 92 feet tall. 
During the loading of grain in the fall, the building sank into the ground and was leaning almost 27 degrees.  Compacting of the soil on the low side prevented it from falling all the way over. The 875,000 bushels of grain were removed over a three week period and a plan was established to right the structure. 
The Foundation Company Limited of Montreal and Vancouver started work in December 1913, underpinning the structure with 5 rows of 14 piers each and excavating under the high side. Then, using a matrix of screw jacks, the building was brought back to a vertical position over a period of 10 months, rotating the entire building over the center row of piers. When the building was vertical it was 14 feet lower than when it was first constructed.  
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4 comments:

  1. VectorWarbirdsMay 31, 2020 at 10:03 AM

    Must have been something to watch that thing tip over. I wonder if it was slow or somewhat fast.

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  2. Mister GMay 31, 2020 at 10:10 AM

    One of the new articles said it took 12 hours to sink. Apparently there are different layers of different kinds of clay and with the water table making some of them soft, down it went. Great that they have soil dynamics all figured out, it couldn't happen again, could it? https://www.businessinsider.com/is-millennium-tower-safe-still-leaning-sinking-2017-9

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  3. Graham ClaytonJune 26, 2020 at 10:15 PM

    Should have left it in situ and made it into a tourist attraction - the leaning silo of Transcona :-)

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  4. Mister GJune 26, 2020 at 11:51 PM

    That has a nice ring to it!

    ReplyDelete