Minneapolis Dome Collapses
The pounding snow caused the roof of the 64,000-seat Metrodome in Minneapolis to "deflate" Sunday morning, Minnesota State Patrol spokesman Lt. Eric Roeske said. Workers wielding shovels could be seen clearing the roof of the heavy white stuff, while photos from inside the darkened stadium showed much of the field covered with snow that fell from a gaping hole in the dome.
"Obviously the weight of the snow would affect how much air pressure is necessary to keep that roof up," Roeske said. "Something caused that air pressure not to be strong enough or high enough to keep that roof at its normal position."
Roy Terwilliger, chairman of the Minneapolis Metro Sports Commission -- the group that oversees the Metrodome -- said the heavy snow and cold, high winds "was too much pressure on the dome and several panels on the Teflon roof were caused to rip."
The above article and footage of the dome can be seen at:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/12/12/winter.weather/index.html?hpt=T2
December 15 2010
Extract (below) from
www.kare11.com/news
MINNEAPOLIS -- Engineeers from the company that built the Metrodome roof arrived at the tattered arena Monday evening to assess the damage, 36 hours after the fabric roof collapsed in a storm that dropped 17 inches of snow on the Twin Cities.
The inspectors, from Birdair Inc. of Amherst, New York could be seen walking across the field peering up at the largest of the three holes in the roof. The company has built "tensile fabric membrane" caps over stadiums and other structures around the world, including Denver International Airport and Cowboy Stadium.
The Birdair Crew met privately afterwards with the staff of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, which owns and operates the home of the Minnesota Vikings. The president of the commission, Roy Terwilliger, said earlier that he hoped for good news after the inspection of the torn and deflated Teflon ceiling.
An article about the history of the Minneapolis Dome can be found at:
http://www.msfc.com/history.cfm and other facts about the dome at:
