River Bend Ag Monolithic Dome Fertilizer Storages
Twin 6,000 ton potash storage domes situated on the bank of the Missippi river, newly refinished with a protective membrane.
River Bend Ag is a retail fertilizer storage facility on the banks of the Mississippi in New Madrid, Missouri. The plant has two Monolithic Domes storing 6,000 tons (5440 tonnes) of potash—each—loaded from ships via conveyor atop the domes.
The original two-domed project was part of a string of Monolithic Dome storages constructed in the 1980s along the Mississippi river for various independent fertilizer plants. Both domes at New Madrid are 93 feet (28 m) in diameter by 43 feet (13 m) tall. Product is conveyed from river barges to a head-house atop the dome where it piles inside and against the dome structure.
Monolithic Domes offer the ability to store product in a climate-controlled, air-tight environment where product is protected from heat, humidity, and weather. Plus, domes are incredibly strong, able to bear the weight of conveyors over a free-span structure, resist the knocks of heavy equipment, and meet seismic requirements for the New Madrid fault zone.
In the ’80s, peeling the Airform membrane off the completed structure was common practice. Both of these domes were likely constructed using the same membrane. Peeling the Airforms meant the best “coating” for the domes was removed. Liquid coatings were applied and worked well for a while, but after 40 years, the structures were in great need of something more permanent.
In 2024, Monolithic was hired to inspect, repair, and retrofit the structures with a membrane manufactured by Duro-Last in a process Monolithic dubbed: ReCover. It’s sort of like reapplying the Airform, but the Duro-Last membrane is optimal for covering existing structures.