Rachael back again! Today’s adventures led us to a winery…. so that begs the question: Does this post belong here or the food page? Read on to find out why this post is here and not on the food page!
When in the wine business, you must be prepared to invest a small fortune in land, facilities and equipment before seeing a return. At the Starosel Winery, they thought ahead and solved a very troublesome problem in a very unique fashion. In one of the two large fermenting rooms on site, they installed a removable roof structure. This will allow for them to remove the roof when they need to remove/ replace any of the very large fermenting vats. They designed a reinforced concrete structure as the facility and literally placed a wooden, truss frame roof on top of concrete pillars. They secure the roof to the concrete columns with removable bolts. And since wood is a relatively lightweight material, there is no problem removing it when they need to get machines in to access the large vats.
There was not really anything spectacular about the actual design of the wood frames and the trusses; where the ingenuity and beauty of the work is through its purpose. Many people would build the bones of the structure, install the equipment and then install the roof, never thinking ahead of how the client’s needs might change throughout the course of the life of the building. However, whoever designed this was thinking ahead and foresaw a problem if they ever needed to replace a vat due to defect or even age and wear and tear. As engineers, our clients may not always be inclined to think ahead and it is part of our responsibility to think of all possible issues they may have and make suggestions on how to build them a structure that fits their present and future needs.
I am not entirely sure the cost of removable roof and if it was more expensive to do this way as opposed to an attached roof, I am not sure how much more expensive it was. However, in my opinion it was well worth the money because it saved them from major headaches down the road.
It is a great website!