Fabric Buildings Double Composting Facility’s Capacity

Legacy fabric buildings

by | Apr 21, 2015

This article is included in these additional categories:

Legacy fabric buildingsLegacy Building Solutions has installed three of its tension fabric buildings at a composting facility in Florida as part of an expansion project that will double the operation’s production capacity for recycling biosolids and yard waste.

The fabric buildings at the Lee County Composting Facility (LCCF) in Felda, Florida are used to shelter material from rain and sun for roughly 30 days in the first stage of composting. Each of the three structures measures 162 by 120 feet, large enough to accommodate six compost windrows piled 8 feet high and 16 feet wide, for a total storage capacity of 1,700 cubic yards of material per building. Equipment and material can easily enter the structure under the end walls, which offer a clearance height of 18 feet.

The LCCF site includes six other fabric structures originally constructed in 2009. These older buildings utilize a curved, web truss frame, whereas the new Legacy buildings feature innovative solid, I-beam engineering. This rigid frame, structural steel concept provides several engineering advantages, including the ability to customize building dimensions and provide straight sidewalls that maximize the amount of usable floor space inside the structure.

In addition to building construction, Legacy was responsible for engineering the cast-in-place concrete pier foundations. Accounting for challenging conditions with soil and sloping, the design included column heights being adjusted at each footing to ensure the buildings were level.

Engineered to withstand ultimate wind speeds of 150 mph and meet seismic “A” design codes, the fabric buildings feature 28-ounce PVC-PVDF fired-rated fabric that offers enough translucency to eliminate the need for electric lights inside the structures during daylight hours. All steel members are hot dip galvanized for added corrosion protection. The buildings are also equipped with ceiling fans and feature four Schaefer RV-3000 ridge vents for enhanced ventilation.

Businesses including General Motors are increasingly composing their organic waste to meet internal waste-reduction targets or zero-food-waste mandates.

Additional articles you will be interested in.

Stay Informed

Get E+E Leader Articles delivered via Newsletter right to your inbox!

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Share This