Thursday, September 22, 2011

Ashley Open House

Follow the link below for the article on the Ashley open house published in the Michigan Farm Bureau Paper.  I suppose that I should post some of the pictures from the event also.  Somehow I missed doing that amongst everything else.  Stay Tuned!

http://www.michiganfarmbureau.com/farmnews/transform.php?xml=20110915/fertilizer.xml

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Kansas Project Commenced

We are installing 3 - 500,000 gal tanks at the Goodland, Kansas plant.  The amount of product that they are shipping in a year and the growth that the area is experiencing has made this a necessity.  In addition to the three tanks, they will recieve a rail loading manifold to help them load railcars faster.  They will also recieve upgrades to thier loading technology.  This will make thier load times similar to that of the new Ashley plant.  We are upgrading thier outside loadout so that they can drive through.  They will be able to load both inside and outside the building at much faster speeds once the project is completed. 
 The soils at this location required that holes be drilled and columns of cement be poured to support the tanks.  It is a friction footing method as the tanks will be supported by the friction on the sides of the columns.
 These go down around 50 feet.  That means that more than your average auger was required.
 Here you can see them ready to start the drilling.


 Here you can see them pouring the cement into the holes
They will finish the holes with a large rerod to connect the columns to the tank base.  Thanks to Robert for the pictures.  He will be sending them to me on a regular basis so - stay tuned to watch the progress.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Another Step Closer to a New Office

Last night, the Clinton County Planning Commission voted to approve our zoning change to allow for the construction of a new office.  This is one step closer to knowing the feasibility of construction at our current location.  The Board of Commissioners will vote to approve this later this month.  Once that is complete, the next major hurdle is design of the septic and water system.  Once that is complete the project will be ready to let for Design Bids.  Stay tuned for updates.

We also should be seeing some construction in the next week in Kansas for the large storage tanks.