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Board Approves New Grain Bin For 2012

	The Sparta Coop Board of Directors has approved the construction of a 264,000 bushel Brock grain bin at the Sparta Grain Facility.  Digman Construction of Platteville, Wisconsin will be the General Contractor for the project.  Ground will be broken for the bin foundation in late April.  The concrete for the foundation will be poured in early May with the construction of the bin itself being done in June.  This additional storage will bring total capacity to just under a million bushels.  As the face of farming changes to a more grain based economy here in Monroe County, the Sparta Coop is changing to meet those needs.  We will be posting pictures of the project throughout the process.
	The new bin is 78 foot in diameter.  The soil borings required that the site be excavated to a depth of 14 feet to get under a layer of peat that went down to that level.  The soil was removed in sections so the machinery would have a platform to work from.  As you can see from the picture, the work took us lower than the water table.
	River rock has been put on top of the subsoil to get above the water table.  From here the sand can be layered on and compacted to give the bin a solid foundation.  There was quite a bit of good sand that was set aside during the excavation that will be used on the layers as they are built up.
	The layering process includes putting on a layer of sand and then using the compactor to compress the sand to minimize the settling of the bin.  The goal for total settling for the bin is less than 1 inch.  This total is the goal even though there will be almost 200 yards of concrete, the weight of the bin and over 7,100 tons of corn when the bin is full.
	The forms have been set, the base has been filled within 6 inches of the top and the sand has been compacted.  The wire mesh has been put on top of the sand.  Now the cement is being pumped into the forms to make up the inner ring of the bin floor.  This section is 6 inches of cement over 12 inches of compacted sand.  After the cement has cured for 24 hours the forms will be removed.