has a transparent roof with a span of 300 meters.
I read an interview with a GE research centre chief, who said that ,the material for this roof is developed by them and that roof has no support from bottom .
How is this 300 meter span supported without pillars ? Is there any other fastening arrangement ?
Isn’t the photo on the page you linked to clear enough?
How is it fastened at roof top centre ? It is not clear to me .
Is it a circular steel frame ?
Well, yes, the beams come up to that circular structure. From what I can see the beams work under compression and have thinner cables that work under tension. They support the central circle.
I haven’t been there for ages and honestly the roof made no impression on me. I drive by there all the time and it looks a lot like a stadium cum flying saucer.
I will however be using the S Station on monday, so if I remember I’ll take some pictures for you.
The Madrid Arena, located at 40.413047, -3.738256, has a similar cover structure although with a smaller diameter of about 125 m. It is a complex structure and not immediately clear how the different parts work and contribute to the whole. It is not clear if the central circle is supported by compression or suspended by tension.
What so unusual about this? Aren’t there plenty of domed sports arenas? Houston’s Astrodome has a dome 216 m in diameter, and it was built in 1964. Surely there are some larger and stronger domes built even more recently.
Hi, Thanks in advance.
It’s pretty underwhelming to be honest. There is something like a giant spiderweb lattice structure, and what looks like translucent covering. Basically, it looks like a giant dirty skylight. I took a couple of camera phone photos but doubt if that shows much of interest.