The Customer
An Eastern Ontario rural municipality operating a regional public works yard. The yard supports winter road maintenance across several hundred lane-kilometres of municipal and connecting-link roads. The Director of Public Works initiated the project under a multi-year capital plan, with funding shared between municipal capital and a provincial salt-management compliance program.
The Challenge
The municipality's existing open salt pile was no longer compliant with the Code of Practice for the Environmental Management of Road Salts. Spring runoff was depositing chloride into a nearby watercourse and the conservation authority had flagged the yard. The new structure had to: enclose a full season's stockpile (roughly 7,500 tonnes), be tall enough that a Volvo L150 wheel loader could work the pile without striking columns or membrane, resist long-term corrosion from a brine-saturated interior environment, and be commissioned before salt delivery in October.
The Solution
A 70' × 120' × 28' MegaDome with hot-dip galvanized frame, concrete L-block retaining walls and stamped Ontario engineering. The clear-span profile means no internal columns to obstruct loader cycles. The 28' shoulder height clears the maximum salt pile angle of repose and gives the loader free vertical movement. The L-block walls retain the pile load while the dome above keeps the salt dry and the brine inside the building, fully compliant with the provincial Code of Practice.
Why MegaDome Was Selected
Salt is one of the most aggressive environments any structure encounters. MegaDome's hot-dip galvanized frame is the industry benchmark for salt-storage applications and the only frame system Building Depot will quote for municipal salt domes. The PVC membrane is chemically inert to chloride, the geometry is engineered for the unbalanced point load of a working salt pile, and the building system carries third-party engineering and CSA A660 certification — all baseline requirements for municipal capital projects in Ontario.
Construction Process
The build kicked off in late August. Building Depot mobilized after the municipality completed site grading, with the public works yard remaining operational throughout. The L-block wall ran first — set, levelled and grouted in ten working days. Frame erection followed over the next four weeks. Membrane tensioning and final commissioning closed out the schedule with three weeks of buffer before the first October salt delivery.
Foundation Construction
The foundation was a series of pre-cast concrete L-blocks set on an engineered crushed-stone leg with a thickened concrete strip under the dome base channel. L-blocks were specified at 5' tall to retain a 4'6" working pile at the angle of repose, with a continuous keyed grout joint between courses. The thickened concrete strip under the base channel cast the MegaDome anchor bolts and tied the structure to the L-block wall with engineered hold-down hardware. All concrete surfaces inside the salt zone received a salt-rated coating before commissioning.
Installation
Steel arches were raised in four weeks using a mobile crane and the Building Depot install crew. The translucent membrane was tensioned over the next week with the engineered ratchet system. End walls were framed in light-gauge steel with a personnel door on the office side and a 16' overhead end-wall door sized to accept salt delivery trucks if needed. Commissioning included a full anchor-bolt torque check, ventilation flow test and a walk-through with the public works director.
Building Specifications
| Building dimensions | 70' W × 120' L × 28' H |
|---|---|
| Footprint | 8,400 sq ft, clear-span |
| Stockpile capacity | ≈ 7,500 tonnes of road salt |
| Frame | Hot-dip galvanized steel |
| Membrane | PVC, chemically inert to chloride |
| Foundation | 5' concrete L-block + thickened concrete anchor strip |
| Compliance | Ontario Code of Practice for Road Salt Management |
Project Results
- Full environmental compliance achieved
- Loader cycle time reduced — no column collisions
- Zero corrosion after three winters of brine exposure
- Stockpile capacity increased by 35% over previous storage
- Building commissioned three weeks ahead of first salt delivery
Customer Benefits
- Eliminated chloride runoff into the adjacent watercourse
- Cleaner, drier salt means more predictable application rates
- Lower long-term maintenance — galvanized frame plus inert membrane
- Faster loader cycles increased winter operations productivity
- Capital project delivered on time, on budget and inspection-ready
Project Gallery
"We needed a dome that could take a full season of brine without rusting out. Three winters in, the structure looks the same as the day we commissioned it."
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Building Depot is Ontario's Authorized MegaDome Dealer. Engineering, permits, foundation and turnkey installation — one accountable contract.
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