Storage - Dome Construction

Dome storage provides a large column-free structure capable of storing a high volume of product, up to 100,000 tons in one cell. The execution time for construction of a dome structure is very short compared to other storage solutions.

We have acquired new expertise and technology for the design and construction of concrete dome storage structures, allowing us to offer a complete portfolio of bulk storage solutions for the agricultural, industrial, and terminals industries. Since 2018 DOMEPIRS technology from PIRS has been added to our portfolio to complete our range of products in the domain of storage structures.

With this new technology we can provide our customers with state of art storage systems. Our in-house team of dome structure specialists are responsible for building more than 150 projects around the globe including North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

THE DOME CONSTRUCTION PROCESS

Ringbeam is poured via conventional methods.
An airform is attached to the exterior of the ringbeam. The airform is prefabricated to the dimensions of the building and delivered onsite ready to inflate.
The airform is inflated and the pressure inside the dome is stabilized.
Vethane foam is sprayed on to the internal face of the airform. Tabs are embedded in order to receive the first steel rebars.
Steel rebar is fixed along the walls of the sturcture using the tabs embedded in the foam.
Concrete is applied via spraying onto the steel grid.
Once the rebar is fully embedded in concrete, the dome is fan cured for four days, then the door and window openings are cut through the structure.

CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY

The use of high density Vethane foam (55 kg/m3) greatly enhances the intrinsic qualities of the dome. First, it acts as a stabilizer of the inflated airform in the initial stages of the construction. The compressive resistance of high density foam is between 3.5 - 4 kg/cm2. Practically speaking, this means that a person can walk on top of the airform after the foam has been sprayed on the inner surface without any danger of the airform bending inwards.

Second, it slows down and in some cases eliminates the vapor movements that occur when the differences of temperature between the exterior and the interior are too high. This practically eliminates the creation of condensation inside the dome due to these night/day temperature differences. For example, a 25 degree difference in exterior temperature between night and day will not influence appreciably the interior temperature.

Concrete domes function most efficiently as “containers” rather than “covers”. This distinction refers mainly to how much of the storage is filled. Traditional storage halls, flat storage warehouses and metal domes merely cover piles of materials, they are not typically designed to be capable of withstanding the pressure of materials piled against them.

Tall Structures

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