Capital District Salt Builds Largest Covered Salt Storage Facility in the US

When Capital District Salt and Cargill needed to purchase a structure to cover their salt stockpiles at Cargill's 200,000 ton Port of Albany regional distribution center in Albany, NY, Cover-All Building Systems was the ideal choice.

Originally contracted to haul salt from Cargill's salt mine in Lansing, NY to the Port of Albany, Capital District Salt now manages the daily operation of the distribution center. "Cargill needs stockpiles to relieve truck traffic and pressure at the mine. These huge piles let us deliver salt to Cargill's customers quickly," says Vincent Logan, Capital District Vice President.

Giant tarps were once used to cover the 50 foot high pile from the weather but the tarps proved to be cumbersome and not always completely effective. Cargill and Capital District decided to explore other storage options. After extensive research, they decided to build a Cover-All® structure to house a 100,000 ton stockpile.

Measuring 150' wide x 555' long, this is one of the largest Cover-All® buildings in the world. "This structure offers distinct advantages for salt and sand storage over other buildings," says Ben Hogervorst of Cover-All Building Systems of New York. 'The clear-span environment, corrosive resistant materials, and quality engineering make this the perfect building for this application. It is a strong, environmentally secure way to protect salt from the elements.''

Once site preparation and foundation piles were complete, Midwest Cover-All arrived to install the building, led by Midwest President, Ben Fox, and his crew of ten.  Vincent Logan stood amazed, shaking his head; "I have never seen guys work like this in my life. They barely talk to each other. They don't have to; they each know their jobs. And they don't stop! It's not that they're rude, they're just busy working."

Capital District Salt's building carries a design load of 55 pounds per square foot and will withstand 60 mile per hour winds. "The structure is designed with a one day snow-shed. The center purlin at the ridge is lower than the top edge of the truss. It serves as a divider bar. The weight of the snow presses downward across the purlin, creating a break in the snow. The snow simply slides off," says Jim Albinger, Cover-All''s Dealer Development Manager.

From preliminary site work to move in was a mere 12 weeks. "We couldn't be happier. Each of the contractors came in, did their job and they did it on time," said Logan.