It was a high-top topping-out at the giant Lafarge Distribution Facility on Detroit’s riverfront.

The reputed largest cement products silo in North America recently took another step towards completion with the topping out of the 183-foot-high facility several weeks ago. The project is expected to be substantially complete in November thanks to the work of the building trades and Graycor Industrial Constructors.

Approximately 100 construction workers are wrapping up the silo project, which will allow Lafarge to import cement-based raw materials from ship or train, proportion the raw materials to the needs of customers, and distribute the mix to incoming trucks.

“It’s a unique job, we don’t build these very often,” said Graycor Project Manager Robert Fritsche. “The interior of the silo is very congested, so you can only fit a certain amount of trades people and equipment in an area at any given time. We’ve had good people out here.”

The structure of the silo was created utilizing a slip-form process with a continuous concrete pour over a 14-day period

Erecting the structure, with all of its nooks and crannies – as well as the support steel, duct work, conveyors, chutes and conduit zig-zagging about the interior of the silo – is not exactly an ergonomically friendly experience. “Watch your head!” said one fitter as we shimmied under a low iron beam to get into position to take his picture.

But the cramped quarters won’t matter much to anyone when the silo starts operating. The 106-foot-diameter silo is unlike any that most Hardhats will build in their lifetime. The walls of the silo measure 24 inches wide near the bottom, gradually decreasing to 12 inches near the top. The silo is divided into ten chambers that extend from top to bottom. According to Concrete Pumping Magazine, some 7,000 yards of concrete were poured during the construction process.

When the Lafarge silo starts up, raw materials will be off-loaded from lake freighters via a system of bucket elevators to the top of the structure. Then, the raw materials are moved to the chambers via a system of chutes that will smoothly move the products on a layer of air, similar to an air hockey table. The concrete products can be mixed and proportioned, and funneled into one of three bays at the bottom of the structure, for transport by trucks to customers.

Or, next door to the silo in the palletizing building, bagged cement products will also be available for distribution. LaFarge North America provides a full line of construction materials including aggregate, asphalt, cement, and cement-related products and specialty products for erecting and finishing projects.

“Overall the job has gone very well, and the safety record has been very good,” Fritsche said. “And we’ve been very pleased with the quality of craftsmanship.”

IRON WORKERS working for Graycor and Whaley Steel mark the topping out of the Lafarge Distribution Facility, the largest cement silo in North America, which was constructed in Soutwest Detroit along the Detroit River.

ELECTRICIANS Dan Geppart, left, and Ken Burnham of IBEW Local 58 and Superior Electric install valve wiring in an air blower atop the Lafarge cement silo.