Corn Bunker Project - Hankinson, ND

Lowry Engineering worked with Guardian Energy at their Hankinson, ND ethanol plant to install a drive lane and two bunker areas for corn storage during the months of harvest. The design started by completing a topographic survey of the existing field where the bunkers were going to be constructed to ensure proper elevations were used. Drainage flow paths of storm water were very important on this project so that the corn piles did not take on additional water, which would damage them. The dimensions of the drive lane and bunker areas were chosen based on the auger model that would be unloading the trucks and placing the corn in the pile. Construction on the project started in August 2017. A challenge encountered during construction was that the native soils had a very high moisture content making it hard for the contractor to meet the compaction specification.