Domes have become the preferred solution for large-volume storage worldwide, particularly in the cement industry. Many new and existing pre-homogenizing stockyards for cement manufacturing are being covered by dome technology. Among the orders one dome manufacturer, Geometrica, has received from cement manufacturers in the last few months are:

Cementos Nacionales, S.A., placed an order for a 90-meter-diam dome to cover the blending bed at its new plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Geometrica's Freedome technology made it possible to adapt the shape of the dome to meet stringent clearance requirements.

Nesher Cement, Israel, placed an order for a new 110-meter dome to cover the pre-blending at its new production line. A galvanized steel solution was selected over painted steel frames, concrete domes, and aluminum domes.

ICA/Flour Daniel placed an order for a 76-meter dome to be part of a turnkey solution for the expansion at the El Ronco plant for Cementos El Salvador, S.A. The project's critical schedule was an important consideration in selecting the system.

Cementos Curico, Chile, ordered an extension to its existing longitudinal structure for its new plant. The new structure extends the length of the limestone storage building to more than 120 meters. With this new order, Geometrica will have supplied nearly 20,000 m[superscript]2 of storage structures for Cementos Curico in an 18-month period.

Ciments du Maroc ordered a 79-meter dome to cover the existing limestone pre-blending unit at its Safi, Morocco plant. The dome system was preferred partly because it could be installed without significantly interrupting operations.

A dome's elliptical profile easily adapts to the special requirements of a stacker/reclaimer system. It provides high clearance at the bed's perimeter without sacrificing structural efficiency or requiring a much larger diameter foundation. In the past, domes also have been installed over blending equipment supplied by most major manufacturers of this type of equipment.

These structures have been used in many other industrial applications, such as the twin domes for Nemak, an aluminum foundry in northern Mexico. Covering nearly 20,000 m[superscript]2 each and with 224 meters in major axis span, the Nemak domes are the largest industrial domes in the world. In April, Nemak awarded the manufacturer a contract to build a third identical facility.

Recently, the company's domes and longitudinal structures have been completed for many other cement industry clients, such as Lucky Cement and Tuntex Cement in Taiwan and Siam Cement in Thailand. At 125 meter diam, the Siam Cement Thung Song dome is the world's largest covered blending unit for cement manufacture.