WINTER STORM TOO MUCH FOR LONE STAR BUILDING

A winter storm that dumped up to 8 inches of snow on top of a layer of ice was too much for a 500- x 100-foot structure that served as a warehouse for concrete klinkers at Lone Star Industries.

The 50,000-square-foot building collapsed during the early morning hours Monday.

"Seven or eight inches of snow on top of two inches of ice apparently was too much for the building," said John Burian, director of operations at the plant.

Damages to the structure and equipment were estimated by Burian at $1.5 million-$2 million.

The structure, located at 2524 S. Sprigg at the concrete manufacturing facility, collapsed about 2:30 a.m. Monday. It was enclosed on three sides, and served as the warehouse for the klinker product that is a material produced in the kiln, awaiting the crushing process.

"It (klinker) is concrete," said John Burian.

He explains the process.

"We place the raw materials used in the production of concrete and blend them into the kiln," he said. "All of these materials are cooked in the kiln and what comes out is concrete klinkers."

The klinkers, small walnut-sized pebbles, are then ground with gypsum and the resulting product is concrete.

Burian said the collapse of the building came as a surprise.

"The structure was designed to withstand heavy snow," he said. "We don't know what happened. The building was constructed during the 1981 expansion of the plant."

Burian added that a contributing factor could have been a tornado that swept through the area last fall.

"The tornado damaged some roofs of other structures here," he said. "We didn't see any evidence of tornado damage to the klinker house, but it could have weakened it in some way."

The structure also housed a conveyor and other equipment.

"A lot of equipment was damaged," said Burian, "but luckily, nobody was hurt."

Burian said the structure would have to be rebuilt from the ground up.