There’s different ways to handle all sorts of concrete building projects across the nation. Whether it is bridge building, foundation laying or something different, sometimes you have to come up with creative ways to deal with issues that can keep you from finishing up a project. In Pennsylvania, a creative solution has been developed to help floating concrete plants on the Hudson River.

This solution is a typing of floating silo. Similar silos failed in December 2014, causing productions delays for the floating concrete plants. A long-time PA family business is contributing to the new silos which will help finish the Tappan Zee Bridge project be completed, hopefully, on time.

The original silos were developed by a European company that didn’t take into account the currents of the Hudson River. This is why they most likely failed. The new company taking over the silo project is looking to correct that oversight and create a type of floating silo that can help contain concrete and make it much easier to float them up and down the river as necessary.

These silos will be built wider and lower, giving them a better center of gravity so that they don’t tip over. Ideally, these new silos should be able to handle tipping over and being sideways until they can be righted. These silos will be stronger and can handle the Hudson in ways other silos for similar projects can’t.

On January 16, 2015, four floating silos were sent to the Tappan Zee planning site. Three more will be finished by the end of February. 20 workers are putting together the concrete silos, working quickly to get them done on time. They’re working seven days a week to replace all the silos for the project to ensure this delay doesn’t happen again.

As you can see, this is a creative solution to building a bridge over a distance when there isn’t a flat surface to produce and utilize concrete. Floating silos are an ingenious way to finish a concrete project that might be much harder to complete otherwise.