Carbo-loading and unloading…

December 8, 1933 – The port signs an agreement with Pacific Continental Grain Company for the construction of a new grain elevator with a two million bushel capacity. The elevator will be built on the site of the former G.M. Standifer Construction Corporation’s steel shipyard.

For the last 78 years, the port’s grain elevator has provided jobs for the local economy and grain for the world. Keeping that supply going causes wear and tear on the elevator, and its operators! In 1981, a serious need for improvements and modernization was realized by United Grain Corporation, the then-and current operators of the elevator. Upgrades in electrical systems, dust-control, dock equipment and more were completed in 1983. In 1992 the port approved $11 million in special revenue bonds for grain elevator improvements that were completed in 1993. Former port deputy director Walt Morey remembered, “The old pilings under the grain elevator, on the river side, had started moving and actually tilted. They had rotted away, and the support was gone.” The river side of the elevator was modernized with a new crane structure, an additional dock, and a double bottom-dump pit, not to mention new pilings!

In 2011, a $72 million project was launched by UGC to boost the company’s export capacity. The new grain silo is now the tallest building in Clark County, and the largest slipform building in North America.

This massive amount of grain coming and going, has the port saying, “More carbs please!”

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