Saw a huge curved glass wall at the new aquarium in Chattanooga

I was down there for a job and stopped by, and the main tank viewing panel must be 30 feet wide with almost no visible seams. It got me thinking about the install and how they handled the water pressure. Has anyone here ever worked on a project that big for a public space?

3 comments

3 Comments

grace_campbell7d ago

Yeah, the crane logistics jake986 mentioned are wild, but I keep wondering about the people who had to polish that glass before it went in. One tiny scratch from a tool or a piece of grit on the lifting gear and the whole view is ruined. They must have had a whole clean room setup just for handling it, like they do for big telescope mirrors. The risk of messing it up in those final moments must have been so high.

river_allen7d ago

Did they use special gloves or just hold their breath the whole time?

jake9867d ago

Thirty feet wide with no seams? That's the part that gets me. The math on the water pressure pushing against that must be insane. I can't even picture the crane they'd need to put that glass in place without breaking it.