Metrodome roof collapses under snow (w/video link)

[COKid]

As a former MN resident, all I can say is "Oh crap, not again! How embarrassing. :no: "

Article begins:

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Metrodome will not be available for Monday night's game between the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings after the stadium's inflatable Teflon roof collapsed under the weight of snow from a heavy storm that passed through Saturday.

"We are currently exploring alternatives to play the game Monday night at the University of Minnesota stadium or another domed NFL stadium," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement. "We will continue to provide information as it becomes available."

The game had already been postponed from Sunday after the Giants' flight was diverted Saturday to Kansas City as Minnesota air travel was shut down.

Bill Lester, the executive director of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, said Sunday morning the dome suffered damage to two of its triangle-shaped Teflon panels and that his crew was assessing the situation.

A leak on the roof had formed Saturday as snow accumulated, ESPN's Ed Werder reported.

"There were no injuries, which we're thankful for," Lester said.

The outdoor TCF Bank Stadium opened on the Minnesota campus in 2009, and the Gophers have played two seasons there. It seats 50,000, down from the Metrodome's capacity of 64,000.

Forecasts called for a high of 4 degrees in Minneapolis on Monday, and it would likely be much colder at kickoff.

Minneapolis got 17.1 inches of snow during the storm that started Friday night and ended around 10 p.m. Saturday, said James McQuirter, a National Weather Service meteorologist. He said the storm was one of the five largest to hit the Twin Cities. Some surrounding communities got more than 21 inches of snow, he said.

The Metrodome roof has failed three times before. It deflated in 1981, 1982 and 1983, each time due to tears caused by heavy snow. The April 14, 1983, collapse forced the postponement of the Twins' game with California, which had been the only postponement. A slight tear also delayed a Twins game briefly in 1986.

The Giants (8-4) and Vikings (5-7) were originally scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. ET Sunday, but the game was postponed until 8 p.m. ET Monday. FOX was to have regional coverage of the game in both Minnesota and New York and the game will be available nationally for NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers on DirecTV.

The change gave Brett Favre another 31 hours for his injured shoulder to recuperate. The Vikings quarterback, who didn't throw during Saturday's walk-through, has started an NFL-record 297 consecutive games.

Favre said the streak would have ended if the game had been played Sunday.

"I wasn't playing [sunday], but we'll see how it feels" Favre told ESPN's Werder late Saturday night in a text message.

Source:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5911532

Photo credit: KARE11.com

This is how it normally appears.

[argonite]

Dammit engineers, stop not considering snow load.

[COKid]

[Singh400]

How do they not consider snow factors when during a health and safety review? Blood heck. Especially after it has already happened THREE times.

[COKid]

Amazing video from inside the dome as the roof caved in!

http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=ca15cffb-3b66-49a0-84ca-20ed0a175567&from=foxsports_en-us_videocentral

Aah, the wonderful laws of physics. :o

[.Neo]

Fail.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Rumor has it Favre did it so his game playing streak could stay intact.

Hope they play the game somewhere else tomorrow night, being a Giants fan, this really could potentially mess them up big time, as the important game is next week against Philly, and they need as much time to prepare for that as possible. So hoping they figure it out, and the game is played in New Orleans or Detroit tomorrow night.

EDIT - Did not realize it was confirmed for Detroit tomorrow night at 7. Nice. (Y)

[COKid]

Rumor has it Favre did it so his game playing streak could stay intact.

I heard on a Twin City radio station that since Favre doesn't like playing in cold anymore, they decided not to play outdoors at TCF Field (where the local college team plays). Probably a rumor, but Brett is sure something else.

[Razorwing]

That is crazy.

[P!P]

I was gonna post this until I saw it here. I think the Vikings might have intentionally done it to raise awareness for a new stadium. ;)

[rajputwarrior]

[Astra.Xtreme]

I heard on a Twin City radio station that since Favre doesn't like playing in cold anymore, they decided not to play outdoors at TCF Field (where the local college team plays). Probably a rumor, but Brett is sure something else.

No, just no... They would have to shovel a field covered with 17 inches of snow to be able to play there. That's just common sense.

[spenser.d]

I heard on a Twin City radio station that since Favre doesn't like playing in cold anymore, they decided not to play outdoors at TCF Field (where the local college team plays). Probably a rumor, but Brett is sure something else.

MN didn't decide anything, it was the NFL's choice (with influence by FOX, who's already got video equipment set up at Ford field).

[Gaffney]

American engineers, typical they should make a better code system like eurocode.

[Edrick Smith]

Who wants to start taking bets they'll put a new inflatable roof on?

American engineers, typical they should make a better code system like eurocode.

Ugh Typical European, you guys have just as many if not more issues with your code.

[Gaffney]

Who wants to start taking bets they'll put a new inflatable roof on?

Ugh Typical European, you guys have just as many if not more issues with your code.

What is wrong with the code ? Was only brought in this year and will make building projects between countries a lot easier. British code is more safe but to safe so the new eurocode save costs. if your talking about isolated indents then that's most commonly human error but to have a roof collapse under snow load three times in a huge stadium where thousands of people could be killed is huge.

I'm in uni doing civil engineering with eurocode, it's not the easiest to use but at least it will make international projects easier because everyone knows the figures. Before each country basically made their own. Eurocode has taken around 35 years to develop.

[P!P]

American engineers, typical they should make a better code system like eurocode.

The building is still standing. The building did not fail. It's really not unexpected for an inflatable Teflon roof to deflate. The timing was horrible but I don't think it had anything to do with building code. Also, the MetroDome was built in the early 80s, I'm sure code has greatly improved since then.

[Shibby]

I thought they would have at least been able to help by blowing warm air under the roof to try and melt the snow down. ?You would have thought with the size of these places the air management required would have been of some help.?