The concept of bunker storage of grain is not new but, until three years ago, bunkers were not widely used in Australia.
In 1978-79, the Victorian Grain Elevators Board constructed six bunkers followed by 43 in 1979-80 and a further 14 in 1980-81. Their size varies from 8 500 tonnes to 20,000 tonnes, with the majority at 10,000 tonnes. Total capacity has now reached 637,000 tonnes.
The reasons for introducing the bunker concept are many. Permanent storage within the Victorian GEB system although it might be statistically classed as adequate at 3.8 million tonne capacity, is not always in the right area in high production years.
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