$40M Sugar Storage Facility Being Built in Montgomery

MONTGOMERY, ILL. — United Sugars breaks ground on a new $40 million sugar storage and transfer facility at 1601 Aucutt Road.

The facility is not attached to a sugar factory, making it the largest freestanding sugar storage facility of its kind in the nation.

The 20-acre facility consists of a 26,000-square-foot bulk storage dome, a 17,000-square-foot transfer facility and 5,500 feet of track space. The dome will hold more than 60,000 metric tons or 1.3 million cwts of sugar, and enables the transfer of nearly twice that amount to many of the largest sugar users in the United States, the company said. There is also room for a second dome on the property.

On March 28 the weather conditions were the up to par in order for the dome to be inflated. Dome Technology's Travis Benedict said project managers were waiting for the wind in the area to be 5 miles per hour or less for a two-hour period of time. 

"All the air is holding the dome up," he said at the time, explaining that contractors are using rebar and concrete to make the dome into a hard-shell facility, one that will withstand Midwestern weather.

The facility is set to begin operation later this year.

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Photo via unitedsugars.com