Structural Restoration, Inc. • 651-338-9366 • http://www.structuralrestoration.com
Reprinted from Grain Journal September/October 2015 Issue
There’s a clever, old expression that says, “safety doesn’t happen by accident.” It takes planning and commitment to ensure that mishaps are avoided. And in the world of grain handling and storage, where the stakes can be high, safety and production are top priorities.
“As a contractor, we arrive on the site, and we have our safety rules, and the customers have theirs. The safety protocols are becoming more extensive,” explains Bing Threet Jr., president of Structural Restoration, Inc. (SRI) in Farmington, MN.
Safety from the Get-Go
SRI was founded in 1958 for the purpose of meeting the maintenance needs of concrete grain storage systems in the Midwest agricultural community. From the beginning, management pledged to provide quality repair services at a reasonable cost emphasizing safety.
Since incorporation in 1969, the Threet family has managed SRI, creating a well-organized and efficient management team. Bing runs operations as the president, assisted by his wife, Tammy, and son and vice president/safety director, Joshua Threet. Charles Threet, who owned and managed the company from 1969 until he retired in 2005, continues to provide consulting services to SRI. Today, the company’s commitment to safety continues in the maintenance, modification, and preservation of concrete grain storage systems across the country.
According to Bing, SRI specializes in a wide variety of structural work, including concrete repairs, masonry repairs, shotcrete, gunite, caulking, coatings, logo installations, silo liners, bin bottoms, painting, crack repairs, explosion repairs, sandblasting, waterproofing, roof coatings, installation of inspection doors, and epoxy and grout injections. SRI has developed extensive experience in the concrete restoration field and has repaired and maintained grain storage systems for a variety of firms throughout the years.
“We are dedicated to doing what it takes to satisfy our customers,” says Bing, who joined the company in 1982 as a laborer and became president in 2005. “We spend a lot of time making sure that our employees and customers are safe, working with their programs and our own. Joshua, who joined the company in 2004 and became vice president in 2013, works extensively on keeping SRI and all employees trained and current with all the existing and new safety rules and regulations.”
Bing adds that customers are getting more proactive about preventive maintenance than in the past. “This forward-thinking approach ultimately leads to improved safety – not to mention reduced costs. Most of the time problems can be detected early, before the damage is too severe,” he explains.
SRI is approaching yet another milestone, at 13 years with no lost-time incidents, and has been awarded the annual GEAPS Safety Award since 2003. “Safety starts as soon as you arrive on the jobsite and is a constant battle throughout the day,” states Joshua. “Safety has to be on your mind every second of every day you perform any task, big or small.”
Success in Repeat Business
SRI prides itself on having many of the same customers who have been with the company since its inception while adding new ones. In fact, Bing says, “SRI believes that good service produced safely and in a timely fashion is responsible for its success and longevity.”
Although the company initially served a five-state area in the Midwest near its Minnesota office, “our employees now travel considerably more often, as the company’s customer c base has expanded drastically,” says Bing. Today, SRI reaches out to all the major grain companies in the grain producing regions of the United States.
Looking to the Future
According to Bing, with most grain and milling companies going with third-party safety managers, such as ISN or SMI Safety, it not only takes time to become approved but also costs a yearly fee to stay compliant. “These companies are very thorough, and becoming compliant is very labor intensive,” says Bing. Therefore, he says, SRI works diligently to stay current and compliant with all third-party safety managers its customers use.
Joshua adds that SRI is excited to introduce the use of drone technology to obtain up-close views of existing exterior conditions. “This technology will provide us and our customers with photos and video of rooftops and surrounding areas,” he explains. “We hope to pioneer the use of this technology in the grain industry to give our customers a cost-effective means of obtaining photos and video of the condition of its facilities.
“We’re hopeful that the use of this top-of-the-line technology will give both us and our customers a clear and accurate view of the facility’s condition,” explains Joshua, and “all without leaving the ground.
“We are excited to begin using our drone to conduct interior inspections, as well. This will provide clear and accurate views of interior conditions, without having personnel inside the silo.
“Hopefully, this technology will pave the way for a safe and cost-efficient method of exterior and interior inspections,” adds Joshua. “We are doing everything that we can to ensure that we are following all federal laws and safety guidelines with the use of drone technology.”
According to Bing, Joshua has trained extensively on the use of SRI’s drone equipment, which can provide not only photos, but also 4K UHD video of a customer’s facility.
