VAA was proud to continue working with Burnett County Diary at their cheese processing facility. Our second project with them was a substantial addition to the food processing area of an existing building. Structural and architectural services were provided. The structure is mainly concrete and masonry construction, roof is precast concrete. In order to meet the requirements of food grade construction it was important to avoid any cavities, dust ledges or areas that cannot be washed down.
The brine room had specific requirements due to the salty air. An extra cover was required on all reinforcing steel in floor, walls and ceiling so they would not rust in the environment.
The two-story concrete and block large processing area houses the vertical presses for the cheddar chesses. Workers are on both levels with pressing on second floor and assembly line below. The mechanical units sit above this part of this structure.
In order to maintain food grade air quality it is vital to maintain positive building pressure to keep contamination out of the building and prevent cross contamination of process bacteria. In order to accomplish this, each room maintains a slightly different pressure which required additional structural loading to wall elements.
Our design included fully detailed precast concrete beams, which were cast at a contractor’s yard. We visited the yard to approve the beams, which were then trucked to the project site and erected. This method provided a successful means of supplying rapid assembly, despite the lack of local precast suppliers able to supply beams rather than beams and tees.
Architectural services, in addition to life safety and code analysis, included full construction drawings of the production and office areas. The office areas also included employee services such as locker and shower rooms, lavatories and break room facilities.
