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The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center's aviation
hangar must be firmly anchored to the ground. The roof will
be supported by 21 trusses and the bases of each truss will
be fastened to a solid "thrust block." The orange
triangles (left) show the locations of the thrust blocks at
the sides of the aviation hangar. The following pictures show
how a thrust block is built.
Photos by Smithsonian staff |
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An auger drills holes for "caissons," three for each
thrust block, down to solid earth, about 20-25 feet.
©2001, Smithsonian Institution
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Reinforcing
bars ("rebar") are inserted into each caisson and
concrete is poured in the holes.
©2001, Smithsonian Institution |
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The
picture shows the whole triangle of the thrust block with
its three caissons. Forms are installed for pouring the concrete.
©2001, Smithsonian Institution
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More rebar is added to reinforce the structure of the thrust block,
and they are anchored in place by concrete.
©2001, Smithsonian Institution |
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The heavy-duty steel begins to show the shape of the thrust block
against which the bases of the trusses will be mounted.
©2001, Smithsonian Institution |
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Forms rise around the steel and the rebar, ready for pouring concrete.
©2001, Smithsonian Institution |
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This
is a finished thrust block ready to support one end of a truss.
©2001, Smithsonian Institution
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Thrust
blocks all in a line are ready to perform their job of holding
up the aviation hangar, 984 feet long, 248 feet wide, and
104 feet high.
©2001, Smithsonian Institution
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The
ends of the trusses are fastened to the thrust blocks. As
a truss end is pivoted into position, a curved pin slides
into a hole in the thrust block to insure exact positioning.
Bolts fasten the trusses to the thrust blocks.
©2001, Smithsonian Institution
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The
thrust blocks will be seen by visitors to the aviation hangar,
and this picture shows how massive the structure will be.[Visualization
by Interface Multimedia.] |
