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Bridges, Buildings, and Other Structures - Which Building Has The Largest Nonair-Supported Clear Span Roof?

Which building has the largest nonair-supported clear span roof?

Tropicana Field is the third, and current, name of the domed sports complex in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was originally called Suncoast Dome and a few years later renamed ThunderDome. The structure was completed in 1990. The roof is covered with 372,000 square feet (34,570 square meters) of fabric. It has a clear span (lengthwise distance) of 688 feet (210 meters).

The Tropicana Field dome has a cable-stayed roof structure, meaning the roof is supported by a web of cables. This is the newest structural system for trussed (supported by a geometric frame) domes. The support system for a cable-stayed dome functions in the following way: there is a compressed (pushed inward) ring at the base of the dome and a tense (pulled outward) ring at the top of the dome. This is the opposite of the way in which traditional domes are supported....

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