One of the priorities of the Boy Scouts of America’s Mid-Iowa Council had been to add storm shelters to Mitigwa Scout Reservation, which is located near Ames, IA. But priorities changed when the Covid-19 pandemic started. The importance of storm shelters was again made painfully clear in August 2020 when a derecho storm with hurricane-force winds severely damaged almost every building at the camp.
Fareway Stores, Dean Snyder Construction and MidAmerican Energy responded to the destruction and donated storm shelters to the camp. Crest Precast furnished seven 44-person capacity precast concrete shelters for this project. They also donated their crew’s time to assist in the installation of the shelters.
Crest Precast developed this precast concrete shelter mold for factories, mobile home communities and campgrounds. The interior size of each shelter is 10’ x 22’ – providing five square-feet of space per person. The two precast concrete sections are bolted together with steel plates and do not require ground anchors to prevent the shelters from sliding, tipping, or lifting during an EF5 event. The exterior finish of the shelters is stained stucco, and the interiors are painted white. Each section weighs 44,000 pounds with a total shelter weight of 88,000 pounds once assembled. |