It is becoming a requisite to cover coal stock piles because of the loss of coal due to erosion, wind and the environmental hazards. The conventional structure has restrictions of space and effiency, longitudinal and dome space frame structure is the most commonly used shapes for coal storage shed. Space frame structure permits the flow of coal with column-free or clear span. 

Longitudinal coal shed covers the entire coal and the stacker-reclaimer machine. The length and span of the shed depends on the required storage capacity. In case of future expansion, new shed can be built and connected to old one along length direction, while same stacker-reclaimer can be used, which help reduce investment. 

The shape of dome coal shed is hemispherical. There is concrete wall up to a certain height from the ground level, and the space frame structure will be installed on the wall. The diameter of the dome shed depends on the required storage capacity. A circular stacker-reclaimer is used for reclaiming the coal. Comparing to the longitudinal coal shed, the dome coal shed can storage more coal with same area and can protect coal from wind & rain better, but the cost is higher.