In mid-2002, Glens Falls Lehigh Cement Co. (a 50-50 partnership of the Heidelberg Cement Group and Dykerhoff AG) marked the opening of its 44,000-mt-capacity storage facility, which increased the company's cement inventory more than tenfold over the existing silo facility. Here are a few facts about the new Providence, R.I. dome and the company that operates it.

Providence Dome

• 112 ft. high

• 139 ft. in diameter

• 96% to 97% of cement can be withdrawn

• Two, 300-mt loadout silos

• Full environmental impact study and remediation work completed, resulting in a brown-fields agreement with Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, whereby RIDEM will not hold Glens Falls Lehigh liable for any environmental damage that occurred prior to the company taking possession of the property.

• Construction began in spring 2001 and was completed in May 2002.

• State-of-the-art computerized operating equipment and load out system.

• Constructed of concrete on spread footings, making it highly resistant to differential settlement; no pilings or deep foundations were required.

• 2,200 cu yd of Shotcrete lines the dome walls, along with 1.7 million lbs of rebar.

• 34-ft-high center cone

• Dome contains 14,000 linear feet of pipe, or nearly 3 miles

• At the Providence Dock, a barge-mounted Kovako ship unloader send material to an underground pneumatic conveying system, moving material from ship to dome at a rate of 200 to 400 mtph on a 12-in.-wide belt.

• Dome withdrawal system uses 1,400 airslides.

• Discharge tunnel leads to 400-mtph bucket elevator.

• Dust collector capacity of 25,000 cfm

• Fully enclosed truck de-hatching and hatching stations.

• Type I/II LA portland cement meets the requirements of AASHTO.

• Type I portland cement and ALLCEM ground granulated blast furnace slag also available

• This additional import capacity allows the company to maximize its domestic production capacity in Glens Falls and Cementon, N.Y., because import capacity can be increased or decreased depending on the demand of the Northeastern U.S. construction market.

• Also serves to back up Glens Falls Lehigh's distribution terminals in Syracuse, N.Y. and Wilmington, Mass.

• Will allow the company to use its existing Providence silos to move its domestic production further into the New England market.

• Akansa Cement in Canakkale, Turkey, will supply the dome with portland cement meeting the New England Departments of Transportation specifications. The Canakkale plant is affiliated with the Heidelberg Group and has been servicing Glens Falls Lehigh since 1996.

• Confirmed attendance at the grand opening was more than 250, including managing board members from Germany, suppliers, local Providence dignitaries, and customers from as far away as Syracuse, N.Y., and Burlington, Vt.

Glens Falls Lehigh Cement Co.

• When the Heidelberg-Dykerhoff partnership was formed in 1999, Dykerhoff and Heidelberg's Lehigh operations combined their assets in New York and New England, thus repositioning themselves as a third major supplier.

• The company has been a tenant of the Port of Providence for more than 40 years.

• ProvPort and Glens Falls Lehigh have a signed long-term lease for the Providence Dome site that extends into 2024.