30-Ton Steel Silo

Directed the fabrication and installation of a 30-ton capacity steel silo through PT Witanabe. The scope covered structural design, material procurement, shop fabrication of the shell and cone sections, transport, and site erection on the client's prepared foundation. A silo at this capacity is a significant structural element. The design load from a full charge of dense material drives every connection in the structure.

Silo design is not just shell sizing. The loads that matter are the ones that concentrate: the cone-to-shell junction where bulk material pressure translates into circumferential stress, the discharge outlet where flow patterns create eccentric loading, and the anchor bolts where the entire loaded weight resolves into the foundation. Getting those details right in the design means the fabrication can be executed cleanly. Getting them wrong produces a structure that looks correct until it is loaded.

The fabrication sequence for a silo this size requires planning the plate rolling, fit-up, and welding in the right order. You cannot access internal joints once the shell is closed. That sequencing discipline is part of what separates a competent fabricator from a shop that can cut and weld steel but doesn't think through the assembly before starting. The silo was delivered, erected, and accepted without rework.