Spring Street Salt Shed

Sitting just across from the Hudson River on Manhattan’s West Street is what appears to be a titanic concrete Aggro Crag, but it is in fact an abstract representation of a salt grain. Which makes sense, because that’s what it does. Store salt.

The ultra modern Spring Street Salt Shed is an effort by the city to make even their most utilitarian edifices into unique pieces of art. Finally unveiled in 2015, the strangely angular structure stands in sharp contrast to the staid buildings surrounding it. Joining some 40 odd other sheds in the city that also hold road salt for use in the winter months, the new salt shed is certainly the most fashionable. Even the concrete that the six-foot-thick walls are made of has a special, blueish luster thanks to bits of slag that were added to the mix during construction.

When in full use, the bunker-like shed will hold around 4,000 tons of salt, piled 40 feet high, and that’s about it. For all of the high design efforts added to the exterior of the building, inside it is pretty much just a big box, fitted with a giant door for trucks to drive through.

The salt shed cannot be entered, but anyone traveling along the Hudson River in Manhattan can see it from the street. Licking the surface is not recommended.