Super Bowl LIX: The greatest polyurethane comeback of all time

Louisiana, US – The highlight of the American Football calendar takes place today, with the Kansas City Chiefs hoping to make history by becoming the first team to win the National Football League championship for three consecutive years. But adding to its own little bit of history is the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, which plays host to its eighth Super Bowl, the most of any single location.

Opening in 1975, the Louisiana Superdome, as it was called then, is considered the biggest fixed-dome facility in the world and, when it comes to performing under the bright lights, polyurethane has played a significant role in the venue’s varied life.

Originally built with spray polyurethane foam, the stadium’s roof was damaged during a huge hailstorm towards the end of the 1970s. This left some of the foam exposed, although it did not leak. The management company recoated the foam 12 years later to protect the roof from the sun.

In 2003, the management company decided to remove the old SPF roof and replace it with ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber roofing, which it had been assured would withstand winds up to 130mph. Just two years later during Hurricane Katrina, winds of about 100mph wrecked the EPDM roof membrane.

The decision was made to re-roof the 70,000-seat stadium with SPF, which in wind tunnel testing had resisted winds of 200mph. Bay Systems North America, a subsidiary of Bayer Material Science (now Covestro), supplied the foam. It is reported to have required nearly half a million gallons of foam to complete the roof.

SPF provides a self-adhering, strong, insulating membrane and is considered the only insulation material that does not soak up water, a fact that enabled it to survive for more than a decade of weather after the 1970s storm.

Whatever happens on the gridiron today, polyurethane holds the record for the most impressive comeback of all time.