Uninterrupted access to the salt processing dome is critical to the facility’s function. SGH performed a snap-through buckling analysis, evaluated the dome’s structural capacity, and designed repairs that would minimize disruption to plant operations. Highlights of our design include the following:

• Rebuilding nine door openings by adding new eyebrow slabs and side walls to stiffen the openings in the dome shell

• Infilling existing skylights with reinforced concrete

• Performing localized concrete repairs, including installing galvanic anodes in the repair areas

• Pressure injecting cracks with epoxy

• Strengthening the upper stiffening ring with two layers of bi-directional glass fiber-reinforced polymer

• Replacing and retensioning existing internal post-tensioning tendons extending between door openings in the wall, and adding hoops at the anchorages to address localized high-stress zones in the thin shell

• Adding six external post-tensioning tendons above the door openings, anchoring the tendons to the dome with new stainless steel eye bolt deviators, and stressing the tendons from two vertical lines of dogbone anchors

• Recoating the dome with a spray-on insulation and membrane to protect the external tendons