Cartersville, Georgia - Spray polyurethane foam has renewed the golden perimeter walls of the New Orlean Superdome, which were damaged and dulled both by time and the effects of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Renovation of the Louisiana Superdome is an ongoing project, following the 2006 work to install a spray foam roof replacing the previous elastomeric roof which partially blew off and was severely damaged in the 2005 hurricane.
The stadium, home to the World Champion New Orleans Saints, was waterproofed, insulated and made beautiful again using SPF systems developed by Cartersville, Georgia-based Burtin Polymer Laboratories. The supplier used raw materials from Bayer MaterialScience llc for the 400 000 sq.ft (37 000 sq.m) project, believed to be the largest perimeter wall insulating project in the world.
"Spray foam was an obvious choice due to its benefits of water resistance, thermal insulation value, air tightness and adhesive qualities," said Henry "Scooter" Delaune, Burtin president, in a 13 Jan press statement.
"We anticipate tremendous energy savings due to the tight building envelope created by the spray foam insulation. In addition, the foam was cost effective compared with traditional materials."
Contractor Calmar Corp., who applied spray-applied fireproofing during two previous Superdome renovations, was hired for the perimeter wall work, which began in early 2009 and was completed in July 2010, said Mitch Richard, president of Kenner, Louisiana-based Calmar, in the announcement.
"The sheer size of the facility created challenges," Richard said. "To access the lower convention level, we used three 25-ft x 20-ft x 40-ft towers constructed of tube-lock scaffolding on wheels. They had to be cantilevered and counterbalanced to accommodate the slight angle of the walls."
"Today, the Superdome sparkles like a new building," commented Delaune, noting the "challenging nature of the project due to the height of the building and the exacting specifications involved," he added.
And the Burtin chief feels improved energy efficiency with the SPF insulation is the real long-term gain. Also, the project demonstrates that SPF is valuable for "any residential or commercial insulation applications, whether large or small."
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