STEPS FOR SILO REPAIR
M BY BRIAN HANDSHOE
Making repairs to a worn asphalt plant silo is never fun or easy. For Dan Bowman with Tullis Inc., Redding, California, however, it was going to be an even bigger challenge. Bowman’s primary challenge came from the weigh hopper hanging directly beneath the worn silo cone, making access to the cone difficult and dangerous. Silo repairs present a challenge starting with the choice of liner material. Do you use plate steel cut and rolled into the standard “pie” shaped kit? What about ceramics? For Bowman, the solution came in the form of the Kenco Engineering’s Modular Silo Liner Kit system from Kenco Engineering, Roseville, California. A primary factor for Tullis’ choice was that Kenco’s unique Modular Silo Liner Kit is designed to be easier to install than OEM style liner kits. Custom designed for each installation, Kenco’s kits are comprised of trapezoidal wear plates cut from ½-inch thick, AR500 plate. These wear plates are less than 24 inches long and weigh less than 25 pounds each. This size and weight combination allows for covering the maximum amount of surface area while remaining small enough and light enough to easily handle. Each plate has recesses cut into the perimeter allowing simple plug welding for installation.
STEP 1.
STEP 1. BUILD A BASE
To start his project, Bowman began by building a platform on top of the weigh hopper. This platform formed a base from which to work in the silo. The small distance between the weigh hopper and the opening for the silo would have made working with long, pie-shaped liner pieces next to impossible. The smaller Kenco kit liners, however, fit easily in this reduced work space. This photo is courtesy of Tullis Inc.
STEP 2. SEPARATE YOUR MATERIALS
For simple round silos emptying from a round opening, the Kenco Modular Silo Liner kit consists of multiple rows of liners where each row consists of identical liners with each liner individually numbered. Bowman and his workers separated the liners according to their number and loaded them into a man basket, which they used to lift the liners up to the work platform. They built scaffolding in the silo as work progressed further up from the bottom. This photo is courtesy of Knife River Corporation. 42 | JANUARY 2022
STEP 2.
