1928 Burrus Elevator (slipformed concrete silo construction in Lubbock, Texas. A steel reinforced concrete elevator with 123 silos shown just prior to demolition in 2004 Historic Cooperative Elevator, a row of corrugated steel hopper bottom bins on the left and cribbed annex bins on the right, Crowell, Texas View of corrugated steel grain bins and cable guyed grain elevator at a grain elevator in Hemingway, South Carolina Old wooded cribbed grain elevator and livestock feedmill in Estherville, Iowa. View of jumpformed concrete annex silos on the left and slipformed concrete mainhouse at an elevator facility in Edon, Ohio. Home Grain Co. wooden cribbed elevator at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village in Alberta, Canada.

This article is about grain elevators. For other meanings of "elevator" see elevator (disambiguation).

Grain elevators are buildings or complexes of buildings for storage and shipment of grain. They were invented in 1842 in Buffalo, New York by Joseph Dart, who first developed a steam-powered mechanism, called a marine leg, for scooping grain out of the hulls of ships directly into storage silos. Older grain elevators and bins often were constructed of framed or cribbed wood and were prone to fire. Grain elevator bins, tanks and silos are now usually constructed of steel or reinforced concrete. Bucket elevators are used to lift grain to a distributor or consignor where it flows by gravity through spouts or conveyors and into one of a number of bins, silos or tanks in a facility. When desired, the elevator's silos, bins and tanks are then emptied by gravity flow, sweep augers and conveyors. As grain is emptied from the elevator's bins, tanks and silos it is conveyed, blended and weighted into trucks, railroad cars, or barges and shipped to end users of grains (mills, ethanol plants, etc.) Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 516 pixel Image in higher resolution (2628 × 1694 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 516 pixel Image in higher resolution (2628 × 1694 pixel, file size: 1. ... Download high resolution version (900x690, 50 KB)Burrus Elevator - Lubbock, Texas. ... Download high resolution version (900x690, 50 KB)Burrus Elevator - Lubbock, Texas. ... Lubbock is a city located in Lubbock County, in the north west of the state of Texas, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 199,564. ... Official language(s) English (de facto) See also languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 261,797 sq mi (261,797 km²)  - Width 773 miles (1,244 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 422 KB) Grain Co-op, Crowell, TX -taken by user:pschemp File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 422 KB) Grain Co-op, Crowell, TX -taken by user:pschemp File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Crowell is a city located in Foard County, Texas. ... grain elevator Image copyleft: Image taken by me, released under GFDL Pollinator 03:52, Nov 9, 2004 (UTC) ( ) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... grain elevator Image copyleft: Image taken by me, released under GFDL Pollinator 03:52, Nov 9, 2004 (UTC) ( ) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Hemingway is a town located in Williamsburg County, South Carolina. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2287x1874, 343 KB) Photo I took 2006-05-20 of an old grain elevator in Estherville, Iowa. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2287x1874, 343 KB) Photo I took 2006-05-20 of an old grain elevator in Estherville, Iowa. ... Grain elevator in Estherville, Iowa. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2272 × 1704 pixel, file size: 400 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) The tallest buildings in Edon, Ohio. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2272 × 1704 pixel, file size: 400 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) The tallest buildings in Edon, Ohio. ... Edon is a village located in Williams County, Ohio. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 398 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1140 × 1716 pixel, file size: 88 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Grain elevator Ukrainian... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 398 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1140 × 1716 pixel, file size: 88 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Grain elevator Ukrainian... The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village is an open-air museum that uses costumed historical interpreters to recreate pioneer settlements in east central Alberta, Canada. ... Elevator has multiple meanings, including: A transportation device, also called a lift, for the vertical movement of goods or people, typically within a building. ... The word grain has several meanings, most being descriptive of a small piece or particle. ... This article is becoming very long. ... A bucket elevator, also called a grain leg, is a mechanism for hauling flowable bulk materials (most often grain or fertilizer) vertically. ... Gravity is a force of attraction that acts between bodies that have mass. ... A railroad car (or, more briefly, car, not to be confused with railcar), also known as an item of rolling stock, is a vehicle on a railroad (or railway) that is not a locomotive — one that provides another purpose than purely haulage, although some types of car are powered. ... Self propelled barge carrying bulk crushed stone A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. ...

Prior to the advent of the grain elevator, grain was handled in bags rather than in bulk.

Grain elevators are a common sight in the grain-growing areas of the world, such as the North American prairies. Larger terminal elevators are found at distribution centers, such as Chicago and Thunder Bay, Ontario, where grain is sent for processing, or loaded aboard trains or ships to go further afield. World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... Prairie refers to an area of land of low topographic relief that historically supported grasses and herbs, with few trees, and having generally a mesic (moderate or temperate) climate. ... Nickname: The Windy City, The Second City, Chi Town, City of the Big Shoulders, The 312, The City that Works Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in Chicagoland and Illinois Coordinates: Country United States State Illinois County Cook & DuPage Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government... Motto: {{Unhide = {{{}}}}} Location City Information Established: 1970 (amalgamation between Fort William and Port Arthur) Area: 328 km² Population: City Population 109,016 Population density: 332. ...

Grain elevators can make unpleasant neighbours, but usually neighbors are very aware of what a grain elevator is. However, in the right neighbourhood, they can be ignored. These houses in Halifax, Nova Scotia , were constructed in the 1990s long after the elevator had been constructed and are valuable dwellings due to their location within a desirable part of the city. In the summer of 2003, there was an explosion a this particular elevator, sparking a fire that took seven hours to extinguish after holes were blown out of the large concrete structure. [1]

Buffalo, New York, the world's largest grain port, during the first half of the twentieth century, had the nation's largest capacity for the storage of grain in over thirty concrete grain elevators located along the inner and outer harbors. Many of which remain are presently idle, but are still a dramatic presence on the city's waterfront. In the early 20th century, Buffalo's grain elevators inspired modernist architects such as Le Corbusier, who exclaimed, "The first fruits of the new age!" when he first saw them. Buffalo's grain elevators have been documented for the Historic American Engineering Record and added to the National Register of Historic Places. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Motto: Template:Unhide = E Mari Merces (Wealth from the Sea) Logo: Location City Information Established: April 1, 1996 Area: (former city) 79. ... Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (Latin: One defends and the other conquers) Official languages English, French (Canadian Gaelic) [] Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Regional Municipality Lieutenant-Governor Mayann E. Francis Premier Rodney MacDonald (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seats  - Senate seats 11 10 Area Total  - Land  - Water  (% of total)  Ranked... This article is becoming very long. ... Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, widely known as Le Corbusier (October 6, 1887– August 27, 1965), was a French Swiss born architect, famous for his contributions to what is now called modernism, or the International Style. ... HABS photograph: First Bank of the United States, Philadelphia HABS drawing: James Madisons Montpelier HAER photograph: Tacoma Narrows Bridge HALS drawing: Hale O Pi Ilani Heiau, Maui This article is about the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), a program of the U.S. National Park Service. ... A typical plaque showing entry on the National Register of Historic Places. ...

In farming communities, each town had one or more small grain elevator that would serve the local growers. The classic grain elevator was constructed with wooden cribbing and had 9 or more larger square or rectangular bins arranged in 3x3 or 3x4 or 4x4 or more patterns. Wooden cribben elevators usually had a driveway with truck scale and office on one side, a rail line on the other side and additional grain storage annex bins on either side.

In more recent times with improved transportation, centralized and much larger elevators serve many farms. Some of them are quite large. Two elevators in Kansas (one in Hutchinson and one in Wichita) are half a mile long. The loss of the grain elevators from small towns is often considered a great change in their identity and there are efforts to preserve them as heritage structures. At the same time, many larger grain farms have their own grain handling facilities for storage and loading onto trucks. Official language(s) none Capital Topeka Largest city Wichita Area  Ranked 15th  - Total 82,277 sq mi (213,096 km²)  - Width 211 miles (340 km)  - Length 417 miles (645 km)  - % water 0. ... Hutchinson is the largest city and county seat of Reno County, Kansas, 219 miles (353 km) west of Kansas City, Mo. ... Nickname: Air Capital Location in the state of Kansas County Sedgwick  - Mayor Carlos Mayans Area    - City 359. ...

Grain elevator operators buy grain from farmers, either for cash or at a contracted price, and then sell futures contracts for the same quantity of grain, usually each day. They profit through the narrowing basis, that is, the difference between the local cash price, and the futures price, that occurs at certain times of the year. In finance, a futures contract is a standardized contract, traded on a futures exchange, to buy or sell a certain underlying instrument at a certain date in the future, at a specified price. ...

Before economical truck transportation was available, grain elevator operators would sometimes use their purchasing power to control prices. This was especially easy since farmers often had only one elevator that was within a reasonable distance of their farm. This led some governments to take over the administration of grain elevators. An example of this is the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. For the same reason, many elevators were purchased by cooperatives. A cooperative (also co-operative or co-op) comprises a legal entity owned and democratically controlled by its members, with no passive shareholders. ...

A recent problem with grain elevators is the need to provide separate storage for ordinary and genetically modified grain to reduce the risk of accidental mixing of the two. Genetic engineering, genetic modification (GM), and gene splicing (once in widespread use but now deprecated) are terms for the process of manipulating genes in an organism, usually outside of the organisms normal reproductive process. ...

An interesting problem the old elevators had was that of silo explosions. Fine powder from the millions of grains passing through the facility would accumulate and mix with the oxygen in the air. A spark could spread from one floating grain to the other creating a chain reaction that would destroy the entire structure. (This dispersed-fuel explosion is the mechanism behind fuel-air bombs.) To prevent this, elevators have very rigorous rules against smoking or any other open flame. Many elevators also have various devices installed to maximize ventilation, safeguards against overheating in belt conveyors, legs, bearing, and explosion-proof electrical devices such as electric motors, switches and lighting. Resolving Ambiguity There are two types of flour bomb: The relatively innocuous use of flour in a fragile container, thrown at a person or object to produce an inconvenient stain. ... A high-impulse thermobaric weapon (HIT), also known as a fuel-air explosive (FAE or FAX), a heat and pressure weapon, or a vacuum bomb, consists of a container of a volatile liquid, in some designs including a finely powdered explosive component as a slurry, and (typically) two separate explosive... The cigarette is the most common method of smoking tobacco. ...

See also

• Storage silo
• Peavey-Haglin Experimental Concrete Grain Elevator, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the first reinforced concrete grain elevator in the United States

Concrete stave silo used for corn silage Storage silos are structures for storing bulk materials. ... The Peavey-Haglin elevator, built in 1899-1900, still stands today. ... Nickname: City of Lakes Motto: En Avant (French: Lets go!) Location in Hennepin County and the state of Minnesota. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Grain elevators

• Grain Elevators: Buffalo's Lost Industry
• Rediscovering the Concrete Atlantis: Buffalo Grain Elevators
• A History of Buffalo's Grain Elevators