WW2 Aircraft hanger becomes grain store using concrete retaining walls

Poundfield Precast of Ipswich in Suffolk, the UK’s leading designer and manufacturer of precast concrete retaining walls, has recently supplied and installed a total of 89 m of its 6 m high Alfabloc units to provide an instant grain store for north Norfolk based Holkham Estate farming operation.

The facility has been created within an redundant World War II aircraft hangar, taking less than two weeks to install, and is now capable of holding more than 7000 tonne of grain. The Alfabloc retaining wall system has provided a highly cost effective solution for Holkham’s grain storage requirements and it is hoped to extend the walling at a future date.

Commenting on the new store, Holkham Farming Company’s crop production manager Oliver Scott said: “We have used Poundfield Precast in the past for some smaller retaining walls with great success and so we were delighted to discover the company could also provide a 6 m high product to maximise the floor space we have within the hangar.”

Alfablocs are available in heights from 2.4 m to 6 m and provide an efficient and versatile system of retaining wall with each unit connected to its neighbour by a galvanised plate which spreads the applied load and prevents material leakage.