Three public works departments share their insight into working with fabric building expert Greystone Construction in the design and construction of safe, efficient and cost-effective storage facilities for salt, sand, equipment and more.

“Across the USA, we are trusted by municipalities, DOTs and private firms for their salt, sand and equipment storage needs,” said Colin O’Brien, Greystone Construction Vice President and Principal.

“With every project, we share our best practices to ensure each customer receives an engineered, high-quality product with a layout that best fits their operational needs. Those best practices include engineering to meet local wind, snow, seismic and unbalanced snow loads; designing for capacity requirements and future expansion; using independent foundations and panels; reducing the risk of corrosive damage from the salt with post-production hot-dipped galvanized steel and keeping salt away from building components with independent concrete wall panels with corrosion inhibitors; proper ventilation; and sufficient building clearance. These practices are proven to result in a building that is a return on investment for many years to come.”

“Greystone has been in business for nearly 37 years, and since day one, our team has strived to become a long-term partner for our customers. We take pride and are honored by the fact that our customers trust our team to provide a quality product and call on us when they have future construction needs.”

Here three of Greystone’s hundreds of public works customers share their insights and experiences:

1. City of Minnetrista, Minn., Public Works

Gary Peters, public works director of the city of Minnetrista, Minn., described his experience of procuring a fabric structure and his ongoing partnership with Greystone:

“We’ve had our fabric building since 2015. We had originally asked two different companies to provide quotes to furnish and install our salt shed. From the start, Greystone Construction was honest and straightforward. Their sales team came to our council meeting and explained in detail, with examples, as to why the frame material and fabric they used were of superior quality — this was done without ‘spitefulness’ toward any other competitor.

“We had a limited budget at the time, and the Greystone team worked with us on ways to save money. They gave us the specs and allowed us to do all the excavation and base preparation. We also did the asphalt paving ourselves. It’s great to find a contractor that will work with you to get the project completed on time and within budget.

“The job was completed in a timely manner. We were updated and kept informed each step of the way. Everyone from the sales force to the onsite crews erecting the shed was professional and easily approachable when we had questions.

“We’ve now had our fabric building for over eight years, and the building has been performing great. With Minnesota weather ranging from -20 to 100 degrees — with snow, rain, wind and hail — our building stands strong with no visible signs of deterioration. It looks as good today as it did when it was built.

“The building is 44 feet wide by 48 feet long and stands on 2-f00t concrete piers with independent panels to contain our product and protect the building. The design of the building is great, with easy access for end-dump semi-trucks to unload as well as room for wheel loaders, single and tandem trucks.

“I would recommend this type of structure to anyone looking for a solid, well-engineered and designed building. The durability has been outstanding, and it is versatile. We store around 600 tons of salt during the winter months and then make room to store 150 yards of pulverized black dirt for the summer. The salt and dirt are protected from the elements, and ready to use anytime. We also utilize the covered space along the sides to keep pallets of different supplies protected from the elements.

“We have used Greystone Construction for yearly maintenance checks since the building was erected and would suggest using them for this service. While we could most likely do the inspection in-house, I like the fact that Greystone built our building and is around these structures daily. They know all the building specs and what to look for. They found some minor issues and took care of them that day. The inspection price is not overly expensive, and the service is always impeccable. We did have an incident a few years ago, where a piece of equipment punctured the fabric. I called Greystone Construction, and they were out in a day or two to repair the area. The repair looks good, and we have seen no issues with this area at all.

“I would recommend Greystone Construction to anyone looking at a fabric building.”

2. City of Newark, Ohio, Division of Streets & Traffic

Buster Prince, superintendent of the city of Newark, Ohio, Division of Streets and Traffic, shared his experience:

“Greystone built our 48-foot-wide, 84-foot-long Britespan fabric building to store our overflow of salt supply. The engineered building is installed on 6-foot piers with independent panels.

“It all started when we saw Greystone’s salt storage advertisement in The Municipal magazine, and we called them up. From that very first conversation and through project completion, I can’t say enough good things about the Greystone team.

“We chose a fabric building over traditional building methods because of price, value and our own operation’s time and space constraints.

“I was very pleased with the project manager — he did a wonderful job with communication and logistics. And the on-site crews were great to work with — they wasted no time, were polite and well-organized.

“We are happy with the end product and Greystone’s process
all around.”

3. City of Dover, Del., Department of Water & Wastewater

Bob LaFountain, civil engineer for the city of Dover Department of Water & Wastewater, explained his team’s experience:

“Our new 24-foot-wide-by-26-foot-long Britespan fabric building is used to store cold patch material for repairing potholes in city roadways. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) requires this material to be covered.

“Our entire experience with Greystone, from start to finish, was smooth and trouble-free. This was the first fabric structure the city had constructed, and Greystone was extremely helpful throughout the entire process. This included assisting us in developing the documents we needed to bid the project out to the final construction of the structure.”

“Greystone’s construction crew for this project was a pleasure to work with and very respectful. I stopped by every day during construction, and they gave me updates as to their progress. I appreciated that they were able to work with our schedule to get this project done.

“We would absolutely use Greystone for future projects.” 

Greystone Construction is ready to assist you with your salt, sand and equipment storage needs. Call (888) 742-6837 for a free consultation and quote. Learn more at www.GCFabricBuildings.com.

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