A steel grain elevator holding as much as 45,000 bushels of corn collapsed Thursday morning at the Midland junction north of Lawrence.

Lt. Kathy Tate, of the Douglas County Sheriff’s office, said no one was at the building when it came down. Investigators believed the collapse was caused by a defective seam in the steel structure.

The structure is one of several elevators at Midland Co-op Elevator, 1419 N. 1941 Diagonal Road..

Tate said the sheriff’s department was called about the collapse at 10:49 a.m. Thursday.

The grain bin, which is owned by Ottawa Co-op, is about 30 feet wide by 64 feet tall, she said. She said between 35,000 and 45,000 bushells of corn were stored in the bin.

Ottawa Co-op has not yet released a statement on the dollar amount of the loss.

KPL was called out to shut down power for a short time at the scene.

For updated reports, tune in to 6News at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Sunflower Broadband cable Channel 6, and pick up a copy of Friday’s Lawrence Journal-World.