Port Ellen, Maltings

Background:

The catastrophic structural failure of a grain silo in this small island town led to thousands of tonnes of grain spilling across the road into neighbouring properties and halting production at the only maltings in Islay.

Challenges:

• Local residents evacuated into temporary accommodation until the silos were made safe
• A second silo full of grain weakened by the collapse of its neighbour
• The supply of malt to the Islay whisky industry was in jeopardy.

Solutions:

1. An emergency like this requires immediate and decisive action.Reigart received the emergency phone call at 16:30 on the Friday afternoon.
2. Plant labour and machinery were mobilised within hours to drive through the night to catch the 06:30 ferry to Islay the following morning.
3. A police escort was arranged to allow the convoy to travel safely along the narrow roads to Kennacraig ferry terminal at night.
4. Arrangements were made with the ferry company to swap the scheduled ferry for a ferry large enough to carry the heavy machinery across to the island. Additional lashing points were attached to vehicles to allow the ferry to carry the plant safely.
5. Articulated trucks booked for the crossing were rescheduled to a later ferry to make room for the Reigart low-loader.
6. Hydraulic shears were used to disconnect the silo from the main building.
7. The height of the collapsed silo was reduced to make the area safe so that the grain could be removed from both silos.
8. It was determined that the second silo had also been fatally weakened and had to be demolished.
9. Thousands of tons of valuable barley was salvaged for reuse at the maltings.
10. All metal debris was removed from the site and shipped back to the mainland for recycling.

This project was planned, implemented and executed with consummate efficiency to the client’s and the community’s great relief.