Conagra Brands / Pinnacle Foods

Pinnacle Foods is a customer in Interstate Warehousing’s Partnership Program in Franklin, Indiana. In the course of our business review with new management at Pinnacle, they learned more about Tippmann Group’s construction capabilities and solutions.

As the domestic cold storage market tightened, they needed a solution attached to their plant to save outside storage dollars and provide more consistent service and space.

Tippmann worked closely with Pinnacle’s design team on capacity requirements for both raw material and finished goods in order to meet the appropriate return and come up with an economical and logistically efficient solution.

The land adjacent to their facility was identified as a wetland by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Tippmann worked closely with the USACE to appropriately resolve that issue by building an 800-foot long, 30-foot high retaining wall to make the grade work while respecting the wetlands.

Part of that solution required 300,000+ cubic yards of imported fill. Working off a grading permit and strong coordination efforts with the City of Fayetteville, 30+ trucks hauling a combined average total of 5,500 cubic yards a day for two straight months was managed closely to satisfy the import requirement and keep the project on schedule.

The project was also built around the facility’s existing boiler room, which runs the entire plant. A new boiler room was built, and Tippmann successfully switched the plant over from the old boiler to the new one without affecting operations. In addition, truck traffic to and from the plant was maintained consistently for the client at all times throughout the project. Pinnacle kept up full operations while their new facility was under construction.

Facility Highlights

• 150,000 square feet
• Plant-attached distribution expansion
• Completed under budget
• Shared savings project
• Major utility re-routes of primary power, process waste & storm drain