The Customer
A mid-sized Sudbury Basin mining operator running a fleet of 100-tonne articulated haul trucks plus support equipment across multiple pit faces. The maintenance team had been working trucks outside through Sudbury winters — slowing PM cycles, eroding tool life and exposing technicians to extreme cold.
The Challenge
Mine maintenance windows are precious. Every hour a haul truck spends down for service is an hour of lost production. The operator needed an indoor shelter big enough to fit a 100-tonne truck with its bed raised, tall enough to clear an overhead crane for engine and torque-converter pulls, and tough enough to take welding sparks, hydraulic spray and Sudbury winter conditions. Permitting needed to clear through both the municipal building department and the mine's internal capital-project review.
The Solution
A 100' × 220' MegaDome with 32' shoulder height, hot-dip galvanized frame and AR-series abrasion-resistant fabric panels in the lower wall zones where contact and spark exposure is highest. Clear-span geometry means an articulated truck can be parked anywhere in the bay without column conflicts. The roof structure was engineered to carry a 10-tonne underslung overhead crane on the centre line.
Why MegaDome Was Selected
MegaDome was selected because (a) the clear-span geometry at 100' span with 32' shoulder is the sweet spot for fabric buildings — conventional steel at this span runs significantly more per square foot, (b) the galvanized frame holds up to the corrosive, humid, contaminant-loaded environment inside a working mine shop, and (c) the AR-series membrane is engineered specifically for industrial high-abrasion zones, where standard PVC would need patching within a few seasons.
Construction Process
Construction ran 11 weeks across a single mine-site mobilization. Building Depot coordinated with the site superintendent on access windows, lay-down areas and traffic management so the maintenance fleet could keep working while the shelter went up next door. The schedule ran site prep through week one, pier foundations and crane base in weeks two through four, frame erection weeks five through eight, membrane and end walls weeks nine and ten, and crane commissioning and final inspection in week eleven.
Foundation Construction
Foundation was a system of drilled reinforced concrete piers with a separate engineered crane-rail beam foundation poured monolithic with the perimeter base. Piers were drilled to engineered depth based on geotechnical data from the existing yard. Anchor bolt clusters were surveyed twice before each pier pour. The crane-rail foundation was designed for the dynamic load of a 10-tonne underslung crane running the building length.
Installation
Steel arches were raised over four weeks. The membrane was tensioned and the AR-series lower wall panels installed in the following two weeks. End walls included a 24' wide × 28' tall sliding door at each end, sized for a haul truck with the bed raised. The overhead crane was installed and commissioned by a specialist crane contractor coordinated by Building Depot as part of the turnkey scope.
Building Specifications
| Building dimensions | 100' W × 220' L × 32' H |
|---|---|
| Footprint | 22,000 sq ft, clear-span |
| Frame | Hot-dip galvanized steel |
| Membrane | PVC main + AR-series lower wall panels |
| Foundation | Drilled reinforced concrete pier + crane-rail beam |
| Overhead crane | 10-tonne underslung, full building length |
| End wall doors | 24' × 28' sliding at each end |
Project Results
- Indoor maintenance cover for full 100-tonne haul truck
- PM cycle time reduced — no weather-related delays
- Technician productivity up year-round, especially in winter
- Galvanized frame holding up to corrosive shop environment
- Project delivered with zero lost-time incidents
Customer Benefits
- Higher fleet uptime — predictable PM windows regardless of weather
- Improved technician retention — heated, lit, dry workspace
- Better tool life — equipment no longer exposed to freeze-thaw
- Single turnkey contract from engineering through crane commissioning
- Engineered for future expansion at either end wall
Project Gallery
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