Project Profile: Domino Raw Sugar Storage Shed

After fire destroyed the raw sugar shed at Domino Sugar in 2021, the manufacturer and its construction team dug into an extraordinarily complex rebuilding effort.

The bottom-line goal was to replace a 60,000-square-foot, 100-foot-tall shed in a tight, dockside location. The new, state-of-the-art facility would have to not only match current technologies within the sugar refinery but be capable of adjusting to future advances in the manufacturing process.

One of the first challenges was determining how to create a technologically advanced replica of the 1960s building.

“The shed was orbicular in shape, and it was a hand-built and riveted structure. As construction has evolved in the 60-plus years since the original structure was built, current steel fabrication and erection techniques prevented an exact match,” said Christopher Lamb, Senior Project Manager at WBCM Construction Services.

“To minimize the disturbance of the site, engineers had to design a concrete foundation that could sit upon the existing foundation. Close to 1,000 piles were driven to further densify and strengthen the existing soil and foundation,” Lamb said.

“Meanwhile, we worked with the pre-engineered metal building company to design a structure that would maximize the storage capacity while working within the parameters of modern construction techniques.”

WBCM also had to ensure the structure, which was more hexagonal than round, would work smoothly and efficiently with an elevated conveyor that shuttles back and forth inside the shed to deliver sugar to the refinery.

Erecting that structure along with the massive conveyors that would move sugar from ships into the shed and from the shed on to the refinery presented other challenges.

“We were building a 100-foot-tall structure and installing sections of conveyor that were up to 120,000 pounds and 300 feet long, in a single crane lift with limited access,” said Mike Baker, President of WBCM Construction Services. “So, the crane plan required a lot of care.”

WBCM opted for a dual-crane operation —positioning one crane in an alleyway and bringing in a marine crane on a barge, although the marine crane had to be limited in size due to the shallow draught in the area. Lack of space meant that crane lifts, construction sequencing and equipment assembly had to be carefully — and sometimes, unconventionally — planned.

Some shed equipment was assembled offsite, lifted with the marine crane, then barged around the harbor to the Domino site.

“There were big, long, heavy lifts around the bay to get some pieces into position,” Lamb said. “Also, crane movement was restricted on site by other buildings and structures, so we had to leave out sections of construction — parts of the roof or ribs of the structure — in order to complete lifts.”

Construction crews had to avoid interrupting production at the fully operational Domino plant during the multi-year project and sometimes change the construction plan to blend with ongoing upgrades inside the refinery.

“Domino is a living, breathing plant and, like other manufacturing plants, they are growing, changing, improving their facilities,” Lamb said.

The technologies built into the sugar shed were designed to be able to evolve with future plant operations. The facility is outfitted with leading-edge technologies to offload ships faster and optimize handling of sugars with different moisture content or other qualities.

It is also equipped with multiple, advanced fire detection and suppression technologies, including infrared cameras and automated systems that stop operations and seal off zones in the event of a fire.