Peace River Citrus

Arcadia, FL

Industry: 

Citrus Processing

Business Challenge:

In Mid-August of 2004, Hurricane Charley, a category 4 hurricane, severely damaged all five of the Peace River Citrus tank farms. All of the insulated panels and supporting structural steel supports around the citrus storage tanks were torn, twisted, punctured, stripped or gnarled. Although damaged, the tank farms were left standing. At that time, the plant had five tank farms built with insulated metal panels and single-ply roof systems. The five farms together included 58 storage tanks, each storing approximately 250,000 gallons of concentrate orange juice, or 116 million gallons.

On September 5, 2004, just as many of PCI’s temporary repairs had been set in place, Hurricane Frances swept in and battered Florida for almost 30 hours. Frances, like its predecessor Charley, once again damaged Peace River Citrus. Fortunately, this time the damage was not as great.

PCI Solution:

PCI was called in to provide repairs. PCI crews covered the tanks with industrial tarps to cover gaping holes and applied spray urethane on the tarps to maintain the tank rooms at the required 15 degrees Fahrenheit operating temperature. This action saved thousands of gallons of concentrate orange juice from spoilage.

At the end of the hurricane season, PCI got back to the task of removing the damaged roofs and insulated panel sections. These were completely retrofitted with new roofing, insulated panels, vapor barriers, refrigerated doors and metal trim. The structural steel was reinforced before the insulated panels were reinstalled to allow for greater wind resistance.

PCI supplied and installed roofing and insulated panels to five refrigerated tank farms, replaced the ceiling panels in the Juice Extractor Room, replaced sections of flooring and the roof on the drum storage freezer, rebuilt the 40 degree cold citrus oil storage room, and refurbished the quality control, laboratory, shipping and receiving offices as well as break rooms and restrooms. We met all schedules and expectations and, as a result, Peace River was fully operational in time for the winter juice season.