Two silos, a base that already existed and a deviation that never reached site
An agri-food process manufacturer had to replace two silos on the concrete ring that already existed. On the as-built BIM model, a deviation appeared that no drawing showed — weeks before the crane moved. This is the case, step by step.
01 The situation
A manufacturer in the agri-food processing sector had to replace two large silos, reusing the concrete ring on which the old ones stood. Two conditions complicated the job: production had to keep running, and the as-built drawings of the base were not reliable.
- 2 silos · >20 m high
- ≈8 m in diameter
- up to 400 t loaded
- reused concrete base
Nobody knew for certain whether the anchors of the new silo would fit the existing base. Access did not help either: the walkways and stairs in the area were in poor condition, posing a real risk, and required work with fall-protection equipment. It was exactly the scenario in which the unexpected costs dearly.
02 What we did
We visited the area, agreed the scope at a fixed price and scanned the real condition with a georeferenced laser, with the plant producing while we captured: 2 mm of error on the existing structure and a point cloud with accuracy better than 3 mm in the deliverable. On that point cloud we built the as-built BIM model of the base, the walkway and the surroundings, and inserted the new silo with its real anchor plates to check the fit before moving a single crane. The scanning was done in days and the model in weeks; the plant kept the navigable point cloud and the model in RVT and NWD.
What fits in the model fits in the plant: that is why the intervention is checked before a crane moves.
How A3D validates each intervention03 The deviation the model uncovered
When the new silo was checked against the measured base, what would otherwise have surfaced late on site came to light: the anchor plates of the new silo did not fit the existing circular concrete base — the diameter and the layout did not match. On screen, that is a warning that leaves time to redesign: special anchor plates were designed, the accesses and openings were reconfigured, and the conflict was resolved on the model, weeks before the crane reached the site — not with the structure already lifted and the schedule running.
Discovered on site, that same finding would have meant a heavy-lift crane holding the silo over a base it cannot be lowered onto, while someone decides with the clock running.
The same finding, discovered on siteA deviation detected on the model is corrected on the drawings; detected on site, it costs time and money. That is the value of validating the intervention before touching the plant.
04 How it grows
Validating a single intervention is the first step. The same method scales: you start with one area, extend the model to the rest of the plant in phases and, once the twin exists, keep it up to date as the plant changes.
- One areaYou validate the intervention in front of you, with a fixed scope and price.
- The plant in phasesYou extend the model to the rest, priced by scope, phase by phase.
- The up-to-date twinYou keep the model faithful to the plant as it changes.
We send you the full account of the case as a PDF: which deviation it was, how it appeared on the model and how it was corrected in time, with the project images and the report for your sector.
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Start with the area you are going to intervene in
Tell us what you are going to work on — a job, an equipment replacement, a tender — and we validate the intervention on the model before the crane arrives. Validating an area starts at around €6,000 (estimated); the final scope is fixed after the visit.