There are many farmers who erect new (or secondhand) walls and use them to retain materials such as grain, potatoes or silage. The subsequent loading put onto these walls can be immense, especially if the material is wet or piled up higher than it ideally should be. If a wall was happily supporting grain one minute and then found itself holding up silage the next, does it matter too much? No doubt the steel or timber will still do the job adequately, and even if the wall groans, creaks or moves a little, it will remain standing. Structures that fail always give plenty of warning - don't they? In this article, the basic forces present on walls used to store grain and silage are looked at. Using an example specification for a wall of typical construction, some important differences are highlighted.
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