Silo Structural Inspections
Silo Structural Inspections provide the safety, durability, and code compliance of your concrete and steel silos with expert inspections from EMA Engineers. Our licensed engineers perform detailed silo structural inspections for agricultural, industrial, and commercial facilities, using advanced techniques to detect cracks, corrosion, deformation, or settlement issues before failure occurs.
Why Silo Structural Inspections Are Critical
Silos are high-load structures exposed to dynamic pressures, thermal changes, and environmental deterioration. Without proper inspections, you risk: A silo structural inspection evaluates the safety and stability of steel or concrete silos. Engineers assess for cracking, corrosion, foundation shifts, and compliance with local building codes. These inspections help prevent collapse, ensure operational safety, and meet OSHA and Florida regulatory standards.
Sudden structural collapse
Material contamination
Code violations and fines
Operational shutdowns and liability
Florida’s humidity, salt air, and storm events can severely degrade silo structures over time. We inspect for integrity, material fatigue, rebar corrosion, foundation shift, wall bulging, and safety compliance.
Our Silo Inspection Services Include:
✅ Visual and ultrasonic inspections
✅ Concrete integrity and corrosion assessment
✅ Crack mapping and wall deformation measurement
✅ Rebar location and rust detection (GPR & NDT)
✅ Foundation analysis and settlement review
✅ Load analysis and stress evaluation
✅ Compliance with OSHA, API, and Florida Building Code
?️ Learn more about our Structural Engineering Services
Industries We Serve Across Florida
? Agriculture (grain, feed, fertilizer silos)
? Cement and construction silos
?️ Petroleum and chemical storage
? Citrus and food processing plants
?️ Material handling facilities and terminals
Our silo inspections cover Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Houston, New Orleans, and surrounding areas.
How Often Should Silos Be Inspected?
Texas’s climate accelerates wear and corrosion. We recommend:
Annual visual inspections
Detailed structural analysis every 3–5 years
Post-hurricane inspections after major storms or seismic events
Why Choose us?
? Licensed Texas & Louisiana Professional Engineers (P.E.)
?️ Advanced NDT, drones, and 3D modeling
? SB-4D & OSHA-compliant documentation
? Fast reporting and emergency inspections available
✅ Over 30 years of structural experience across Florida industries
Frequently Asked Questions – Silo Structural Inspections
What are signs of silo structural failure?
Silo Structural Inspections – Texas’s Leading Experts
Certified Structural Engineers Serving Texas
EMA Structural Engineers is a licensed and insured firm specializing in silo structural inspections across Texas. Our experienced engineers provide comprehensive evaluations for concrete and steel silos used in agriculture, industry, and commercial applications. Utilizing advanced techniques such as non-destructive testing (NDT), ground-penetrating radar (GPR), and drone inspections, we identify issues like cracks, corrosion, deformation, and settlement before they lead to failure.
? Why Silo Structural Inspections Are Critical in Texas
Silos are subjected to dynamic loads, thermal expansion, and environmental factors that can cause degradation over time. Without regular inspections, you risk:
Sudden structural collapse
Material contamination
Code violations and fines
Operational shutdowns and liabilityreddit.com+8reddit.com+8en.wikipedia.org+8
Texas’s diverse climate—from humid coastal areas to dry west Texas—can accelerate wear and corrosion. Our inspections assess structural integrity, material fatigue, rebar corrosion, foundation shifts, wall bulging, and safety compliance.
?️ Our Silo Inspection Services Include:
Visual and ultrasonic inspections
Concrete integrity and corrosion assessment
Crack mapping and wall deformation measurement
Rebar location and rust detection (GPR & NDT)
Foundation analysis and settlement review
Load analysis and stress evaluation
Compliance with OSHA, API, and Texas Building Code
? Industries We Serve Across Texas
Agriculture (grain, feed, fertilizer silos)
Cement and construction silos
Petroleum and chemical storage
Citrus and food processing plants
Material handling facilities and terminals
Our silo inspections cover Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi, and surrounding areas.
? How Often Should Silos Be Inspected?
Texas’s climate accelerates wear and corrosion. We recommend:
Annual visual inspections
Detailed structural analysis every 3–5 years
Post-hurricane inspections after major storms or seismic events
✅ Why Choose EMA Structural Engineers?
Licensed Texas Professional Engineers (P.E.)
Advanced NDT, drones, and 3D modeling
OSHA-compliant documentation
Fast reporting and emergency inspections available
Over 30 years of structural experience across Texas industries
? Contact Us for a Silo Structural Inspection
Protect your silo investment with a certified inspection from EMA Structural Engineers.iabulk.com
Phone: 832-548-3972
Email: info@emaforensics.info
Website: https://emaforensics.info
Silo Structural Inspections
Sile structural inspections are for silos, which are structure for storing bulk materials. Silos are used in agriculture to store fermented feed known as silage, not to be confused with a grain bin, which is used to store grains. Silos are commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, woodchips, food products and sawdust. Three types of silos are in widespread use today: tower silos, bunker silos, and bag silos.
Types of Silos & Silo Structural Inspections
Storage silos are cylindrical structures, typically 10 to 90 ft (3 to 27 m) in diameter and 30 to 275 ft (10 to 90 m) in height with the slipform and Jump form concrete silos being the larger diameter and taller silos. They can be made of many materials. Wood staves, concrete staves, cast concrete, and steel panels have all been used, and have varying cost, durability, and airtightness tradeoffs. Silos storing grain, cement and woodchips are typically unloaded with air slides or augers. Silos can be unloaded into rail cars, trucks or conveyors.
Tower silos containing silage are usually unloaded from the top of the pile, originally by hand using a silage fork—which has many more tines than the common pitchfork; 12 vs 4—and in modern times using mechanical unloaders. Bottom silo unloaders are utilized at times, but have problems with difficulty of repair.
An advantage of tower silos is that the silage tends to pack well due to its weight, except in the top few feet. However, this may be a disadvantage for items like chopped wood. The tower silo was invented by Franklin Hiram King.
In Canada, Australia and the United States, many country towns or the larger farmers in grain-growing areas have groups of wooden or concrete tower silos, known as grain elevators, to collect grain from the surrounding towns and store and protect the grain for transport by train, truck or barge to a processor or an export port. In bumper crop times, the excess grain is stored in piles without silos or bins, causing considerable losses.
Concrete Silo Structural Inspections Texas & Louisiana
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Concrete silo Structural Inspections are constructed from small precast concrete blocks with ridged grooves along each edge that lock them together into a high strength shell. Concrete is much stronger in compression than tension, so the silo is reinforced with steel hoops encircling the tower and compressing the staves into a tight ring. The vertical stacks are held together by the intermeshing of the ends of the staves by a short distance around the perimeter of each layer, and hoops that are tightened directly across the stave edges.
The static pressure of the material inside the silo pressing outward on the staves increases towards the bottom of the silo, so the hoops can be spaced wide apart near the top but become progressively more closely spaced towards the bottom to prevent seams from opening and the contents leaking out.
Concrete stave silos are built from common components designed for high strength and long life. They have the flexibility to have their height increased according to the needs of the farm and the purchasing power of the farmer, or to be completely disassembled and reinstalled somewhere else if no longer needed.