Eureka, IL: Grainland Co-Op 7/30/2018 Explosion and Ground Pile Storage

(Satellite, see image below)

The Grainland web page

Street View, obviously before explosion

Street View

Alex Timmerman shared. Summarizing some comments: No injuries, but it did shake the houses in the area. The second fire in a week. The first picture is a "before" photo. It sounds like this elevator had a reputation for not keeping the elevator clean of grain dust.

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I saved the satellite image because it shows the ground storage in the Google Photos was recent.

Satellite

Satellite

They do have their own locomotive.

Michael King, 2017

I never knew that a corn pile was "strong" enough to support an excavator.

It looks like this ground pile was a rather quickly improvised emergency storage.

Michael King, 2017

June 2019 Update:
A video of the explosion. After the initial "big bang," move to about 2:00 where they show a slow motion video of the explosion.

The dryer is considered the cause of the explosion. [PowderBulkSolids]

The new elevator will be able to dump three trucks at the same time.

AgriCharts via Construction Page

I put rectangle around the five bins that they are saving.

Satellite plus Paint

Randy Bunting posted
Both are Gingerich cranes out of Morton, Illinois. Local Union #649. Job site is Grainland in Eureka, Illinois
Ben Stalvey Nice 999
Randy Bunting Ben Stalvey and I think a 6350 Grove .

Bruce Gay commented on Randy's post

It took them about a year to tear down the concrete silos. But the new construction could proceed in parallel because it is in the middle of the property rather than by the tracks.

May 2019 from Construction Page

The following was moved from a redundant post.

Jerry Krug posted two photos with the comment: "Bruce Gay's photos, taken from a crane on an elevator under construction, now consolidated in an album in one post. Taken 'last fall in central Illinois.'"
Bruce Gay top photo is drone photo’s of new construction.
look a little closer at the bottom photo’s after several dust ignition blasts from hot grain igniting, self combusting, resulting in ten million dollars in damage to this co-op. we were there to make it safe for demo crews. also taken with my drone.

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Andy Miller commented on Jerry's post
This is Eureka right? A millwright I know was on scene the day of the accident and took some pictures.

Andy Miller commented on Jerry's post

Andy Miller commented on Jerry's post

I'm saving what is probably a "before repair" satellite image.

Satellite

Dennis DeBruler commented on Jerry's post
I would not have guessed that a grain pile can support an excavator:
[Michael King, Oct 2017]

Dennis DeBruler commented on Jerry's post
 I was surprised that such a large elevator has such as short siding. It is served by the shortline TP&W. They must be willing to frequently deliver relatively small cuts of hopper cars.
https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/.../toledo-peoria...
I see from a satellite image that they do have their own locomotive.
https://www.google.com/.../@40.7222934,-89.../data=!3m1!1e3

(new window)

General manager Jeff Brooks said Thursday that a faulty dryer is the likely cause for the explosion at the Grainland Cooperative elevator that happened around 6:30 a.m. July 30.
Brooks said he hopes the repairs can be completed in time for harvest. Total cost of the repairs was unavailable Thursday.
“There is still much to do to get back up and running,” he said. “We anticipate that we will not take any grain until after Labor Day.”
“The big cranes have finished their work of getting the machinery from the top of the elevator. Next, a salvage company will be retreiving the grain still in the bins. At the end of the week, we expect a contractor to begin the demolition of the concrete elevator. He will also be taking down the grain dryer and legs.”
[pantagraph]

It appears that the demo contractor used at least a couple of extended-reach demolition excavators.

Michael King, Oct 2018