Alvo silo may have lacked steel support

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By the Lincoln Journal Star

The construction standards of the 1960s appear to have been a factor in the collapse of a 110-foot tall grain silo in Alvo last week.

Gordon Ganz, owner of Alvo Grain, said a structural engineer sifting through debris turned up an important deficiency in the walls of a concrete storage bin built in 1969.

“The big thing is there was no vertical reinforcing bar in the silo,” Ganz said earlier this week, “which, at the time, was not required.”

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The once-towering Alvo Grain elevator, the centerpiece of this small Cass County town northeast of Lincoln, collapsed without warning at about 11 a.m. June 10, crashing into an adjacent silo. (LJS file)

The once-towering Alvo Grain elevator, the centerpiece of this small Cass County town northeast of Lincoln, collapsed without warning at about 11 a.m. June 10, crashing into an adjacent silo. (LJS file)

The structural engineer’s visit also raised questions about how much reinforcing bar was installed horizontally to strengthen the walls, Ganz said, and about whether it was placed too close to the inside, as opposed to the center.

The silo came tumbling down shortly before noon June 10 as a crew of three used a grain auger to remove the soybeans inside and transfer them to a truck. No one was inside the silo at the time and no one was killed or injured.

Early speculation was that an air pocket might have formed under the beans and that it broke down, triggering an avalanche toward one portion of the wall.

If the reinforcing bar support was limited, that might help explain why pieces of the wall gave way.

A twin silo to the one that collapsed is still standing at Alvo Grain, about 20 miles east of Lincoln.

Ganz said there has been no pressure, so far, to get the companion silo demolished. “They tell us there’s a small enough amount of grain in there,” perhaps only 2,000-3,000 bushels, to not put much pressure on walls.

The silo that dropped suddenly last week may have had as many as 30,000-40,000 bushels inside.

Ganz said crews are working to salvage spilled beans — currently valued above $14 a bushel on cash markets — by using filters to separate them from structural materials.

As he monitors clean-up, Ganz is awaiting further developments in bankruptcy court that will shed light on the future of Alvo Grain and its Ashland branch.

He turned to that financial option and also surrendered his grain-handling license in April as grain prices approached or exceeded historic highs and triggered cash-flow problems at his and other elevators.