Work is progressing at Patriot Ethanol

Mike Pelton, site superintendent for Hogenson Construction oversees the silo construction in the background. Photo contributed

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ANNAWAN — Work continues at the Patriot Renewable Fuels plant under construction in Annawan.

Ground was broken on the 100,000 gallon plant on Oct. 27, 2006, and this week Mike Pelton, site superintendent for Hogenson Construction, said the last 120 cubic yards of concrete was the final major pour to complete Patriot Renewable Fuels concrete grain silos.

“This rooftop pour was 145 feet off the ground, but today it seemed as if we were working in the clouds,” he said.

Standing now are the initial corn storage silos at Patriot which will hold one million bushels of corn divided equally between the two 500,000 bushel concrete silos.

Pelton said they poured nearly 4,000 yards of concrete in the distillers dried grains silos, corn silos and grain receiving area.

“Normally we have a crew of about 30 men, but on the days when we did the slip forms, we had a crew of 62 men working 12-hour shifts,” he said. “The quality of work by our crew has been outstanding, and everyone on site is pleased. Overall this is one of the finest ethanol sites in the country and has been a nice project to be involved in.”

Patriot’s Chairman/CEO Gene Griffith said he expects the facility will process about 110,000 bushels of corn per day when it begins operations in late spring/early summer 2008. Patriot will have two 1,200 bushel dump pits and two 20,000 bushel per hour grain legs.

“We anticipate unloading grain trucks rapidly as they come across the inbound scale and leave over the outbound scale,” Griffith said.

Once operational Patriot Renewable Fuels, LLC expects to be one of the largest locally owned and operated dry grind ethanol plants in Illinois. Midwestern and local citizens, farmers and businesses, primarily from Annawan, Kewanee, Geneseo and the surrounding communities in Henry, Bureau and Rock Island counties invested in the ethanol plant.

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