Producers Rice Mill Rice Drying Facility

The new rice drying and annex facility in Stuttgart, Arkansas, consists of twenty-four 24-foot-diameter by 125-foot-tall concrete silos; receiving, scalping, and distribution at 20,000 bushels per hour; and reclaim and transfer at 12,500 bushels per hour. The annex consists of twenty-four 35-foot-diameter by 125-foot-tall silos for handling of dried rice and transfer to milling. This facility consists of 12,500-bushel-per-hour transfer and reclaim. All silos are equipped with 45-degree steel cone hoppers, a top-down aeration system, heat detection systems, and real-time inventory system.

Construction started for the new Dryer 6 facility and Annex 6 storage silos on September 19, 2012; and the grain was received for processing on August 15, 2012—331 construction days. A total of 1,369 auger-cast piles were installed, 25,000 cubic yards of concrete placed, and 1,500 tons of rebar installed. We also installed 48 cone hopper bottoms, 29 interstice bottoms, 2,800 lineal feet of chain conveyor, 1,500 lineal feet of belt conveyor, 8 bucket elevators totaling 1,500 vertical feet, 44,000 square feet of roofing, 77 bin bottom gates, 114 conveyor gates, and spouting and transition work.

This project was constructed on a site the area of 1 1/2 city blocks.