What Does a Chemical Company Located Next to a Residential Area Do When They Need a New Foundation Pit for their Tank Farm? You Won’t Believe What One Company Did.

The scene is Ferndale, Michigan, a Detroit suburb that like many towns in the area has a mix of industrial and residential – often side by side. In areas like this, the challenge is how to sustainably combine neighborhoods and families alongside the businesses and employers that keep the community prosperous and growing.

Gage Products Company has been a strong supporter of the community for three generations. As a family-owned chemical solvent manufacturer and recycler for the auto industry their commitment to the environment and the people in Ferndale has been an integral part of their mission since the 1980s.

To ensure their systems and tank containment facilities would continue their environmental stewardship they needed a new foundation pit for their solvent tank farm.

The Delta Industrial team was called in to design and build the new foundation pit and containment wall for 14 large storage tanks located at the company headquarters. We were also asked to build a new loading dock.

Ordinary solutions are just not good enough

Our task was to create the best solution to prevent deterioration or contamination in the event of a spill or leak.  The “ordinary solution” is to use a rubber liner under the base of the tank farm – unfortunately “ordinary” is not good enough for our customers or us.

The Delta engineering team set to work creating an extra-ordinary solution that utilized eight percent silica concrete mix – double the Michigan Department of Transportation requirements in building bridge decks. This engineered concrete process greatly strengthened both the containment wall and the foundation pit slab itself.

Whenever possible – Over Deliver

Our focus on extra-ordinary didn’t end there, since our stronger and better process for the tank farm foundation pit also shortened the build time by several weeks and reduced construction costs. Another win-win for our customer and another industrial construction job done – On Time and In Budget.

As a result Gage Products Company now has a viable, long-term solution that guarantees the safety of the neighborhood they live and work in and supports their mission of environmental sustainability at the same time.