Sterling, KS: MKC Rice County Rail Terminal (Slip-Form Grain Elevator Construction)32

(Satellite)

Since this is a new elevator, it was built in the country where land is cheaper so that they could add a loop of track for loading unit trains. It is between Sterling and Lyons, KS.  

The jump-form silos on the right were built in 2014 and are 128' (39m) high. The slip-form silos on the left and the loop track were added in 2024.

Street View, May 2024

Bob Summers posted 27 photos with the comment: "Neither Rustic nor Vintage, but some people following Grain Elevators of North America and Rustic & Vintage Elevators Remembered may be curious about how slip form concrete elevators are built.  Very few are built this way anymore. The new Rice County Terminal, between Lyons and Sterling Kansas, will be a 110+ hopper car unit/shuttle train loading elevator on an all new loop track served by the Kansas & Oklahoma (K & O) shortline.  The pictures were taken starting in the fall of 2023.  Usually I try to limit my grain elevator posts to no more than 5 photos, but to record and share the process of building a slip form elevator this post has many more for those interested.  The aerial and on-the-slip photos taken by MKC are included by permission.  I plan to make comments on each photo explaining what is seen."

[The construction order is from the bottom up. The photo captions were written by Bob.]

One week after the actual slip process was completed, they have removed equipment from the slip work deck, and have started to remove the forms.

Late the 6th day of the slip, which goes 24/7 from start to finish, they are nearing the 130’ height.

The 5th day of the slip are about 100’ in height.

Thanks to MKC, this photo from the work deck shows the rebar being placed, the vertical “jack rods” that support the hydraulic jacks that raise the slip, and the “Georgia buggies” or oversized wheel barrows used to transport the concrete to the bin walls.

Thank to MKC, this view is where they load the “Georgia buggies” to take the cement to the desired place on the bin walls. Looks like there are four of these cement loading stations on the slip working deck.

Near half way up. The crane is constantly moving the rebar steel to the slip work deck. Now they use a concrete pump rig to elevate the cement to the work deck, the older slip form elevators were built with “jin pole” type devices to get the concrete and the steel rebar to the work deck.

About halfway up. Most of the slip form elevators built back in the day did not have the plastic sheeting to protect the work deck from the elements.

Jim Scheuerman: We would put that on more to keep the concrete from freezing than creature comfort. We would also have propane salamander heaters staged around the silo s every so often.

Bob Summers: Jim Scheuerman any info on how many lift jacks and their spacing? Are they electric or hydraulic? Has that changed over the years? About how much do they go up each time they are activated? I figure that setup comprised a lot of the equipment on what I call the slip form working deck.

Jim Scheuerman: Bob Summers they are hydraulic, the company that rented the electric jacks to us went out of business when the grain elevator building cut off. The spacing depends on the load being lifted. It is usually 6 or 7 feet. The deck is raised about 1 inch each time the jacks are activated. There is a timer that the deck Forman sets to jack at a set interval. If he wants to slip 1 ft per hour he sets the timer for 6 minutes. Back to the jacks, there are 3 types of jacks 3 ton , 6ton and 22 ton. Grain slips normally use 3s or 6 s. The Jacks are hollow and climb a special made piping ( jack rod ). Each jack has 2 sets of grip jaws in it one grips the rod to lift and the other keeps the jack from going down while the first set of jaws reset. To keep the deck level a water level system is used, a clear hose is run around under each jack yoke. Each vertical hose runs up to a target next to the jack. The target has a set of marks with a level mark and then marks in 1 inch intervals 5 or 6 inches above and below. If the deck runs too much out of level the building will lean towards the low side of the deck.

About a third of the way up.

Second day. They were making about 16” an hour. A little slower in the lower parts because they had to place hardware for openings like personnel entry points, etc.

After about the first 8 hours.

The first day of the actual slip, a 24/7 continuous process, maybe about 8 hours in. The adjacent McPherson Concrete jump form bins were built in 2014, and are 128’ in height.

Before the actual slip starts, they place the initial rebar in the forms. The vertical rods are the jack rods that the hydraulic jacks raise the forms when the slip is under way.

Thanks to MKC, a view from the existing jump form elevator showing the slip forms before the plastic sheeting to protect the slip deck from the elements was installed.

The lights have been installed since when the actual slip starts, it will be day and night 24/7 until the desired height is reached.

Placing the equipment needed on the slip deck.

After the forms are built is much that has to be done before the actual slip commences.

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Much carpentry work needed to build the slip forms.

Carpenters spent several weeks building the slip forms.

Early view of bin forms being built. Lots of steel rebar on site for the initial stage of the bin walls.

Before the floor is poured. The elevator is built on pilings for the foundation. In our region bed rock is very deep, so the pilings are “friction pilings” - quite a large number are drilled and pours.

Below grade are the conveyor tunnels, boot pits, receiving pits, etc.

Forms for floor, drive ways, etc.

Bob Summers posted three photos with the comment: "Update on construction of the slip form Rice County Terminal Elevator - two weeks after the slip of the bin walls was completed to the 130’ height of the bins.  Last week the post on the progress of the slip included one photo seven days after the slip itself was completed.  This showed that they had removed most of the construction equipment from the top, and were just starting to remove the slip forms.  The photos taken this weekend show that the slip forms have been removed, and it looks like they are pretty well along on the forms for the roof or cap.  I understand the concrete roof or cap may be poured late this, or next, week.  Will try to have periodic updates as they complete the construction of this rare, these days, new slip form concrete elevator.  Photos taken 2/18/24."

Bob Summers:  What is the thickness of the concrete in the roof, and how thick are the bin walls in the slip?

Kelly Burthwick: Bob Summers 7 inch walls 6 inch roof.

Casey Vincik: I'm curious how many bushels it holds. The silos look bigger than the older elevators that were around half a million.

Bob Summers: Casey Vincik MKC says this one is 1.2 million bushels. Will have 4 legs, 30,000 bph each. Being a terminal I think still means can both receive and ship by rail, and will have official certified weights and grades on the grain received and shipped.

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Bob Summers posted five photos with the comment: "Rice County Rail Terminal has been the subject of several posts, including almost daily, when they were “slipping” the slip form concrete elevator early this year.  This post of is the finished facility as they are loading their second or third shuttle train on the Kansas & Oklahoma short line for delivery to a major railroad hauling the grain to a seaport for export.  Photos 12/15/24."

Kelly Hogan: Is this the new one at Sterling?

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Dennis DeBruler commented on Kelly's comment
Thanks for the location hint. It looks like it: https://maps.app.goo.gl/V8ywKg1DsW5EbzYH6. It is on a former MoPac route.

Kelly Hogan: Dennis DeBruler yes, it's the ex-MoPac from Wichita to Geneseo.