Auburn Bean & Grain Drainage Development

Auburn Bean & Grain, a grain shipping and storing company with several locations around Mid-Michigan, approached Spicer Group after they acquired a new site near Standish for expanding their operations. While the site was conveniently located next to US-23 and the Lake State Railway, it had virtually no drainage present.

Good drainage is a key component for facilities like AB&G. It’s critical for the storage processes as much of the equipment used is located underground and highly-vulnerable to ground water infiltration. And with sometimes hundreds of heavily-loaded semi-trucks entering the site daily, an improperly drained site would quickly experience deteriorated roads and parking areas.

Spicer Group designed a few options for the company to properly drain the site, including one that incorporates a local drain that could become an established county drain, cleaned out and extended to the site. This design option allows storm water to flow by gravity off the site through the drain, which became the Lincoln-D drain.

For the project, the drain was cleaned out, extended to the new site and linked to key detention areas with sections of 12-inch PVC pipe. The project also included building a detention pond and drainage tile being installed beneath the railroad tracks and into the newly-created upper reach of the Lincoln-D drain. This new section of drain serves as a key drainage outlet for the western half of the site, including the massive storage tanks and mechanical equipment.