Largest freestanding aquarium in the world explodes

[Simon Cole]

Oh dear. My theory is that the parabolic shape of the acrylic concentrated sunlight into a narrow beam that heated and degraded the acrylic over time. I was watching a survival documentary last night and they showed how to light a fire using just water bottle... in Alaska no less. Reminds me a bit of the "walkie talkie death ray" in London that could melt cars, fry eggs, and allegedly once set some lady's hair on fire while she was walking past.

 

[PARAGUAY]

Acrylic is a incredibly strong material ,so l guess the actual weight with water was on a poor foundation, examples of poor foundations show you cannot cut corners with them. It's a guess

 

[John q]

Just doing a little digging around and it seems this isn't the first high profile acrylic aquarium to fail. Admittedly this failure appears to be on another level.

"Orient Shopping Center, Shanghai: This aquarium failed two years after installation, injuring 15 people and killing several sharks and turtles. The tank was constructed with 15-cm (5.9-in.) thick acrylic panels to hold 33 tons of water. The tank failed catastrophically without warning on Dec. 27, 2012.

Gulfstream Casino, Hallandale Beach, FL: The14-ft-diameter x 14-ft-high cylindrical aquarium opened at a fabricated (bonded) seam. The acrylic panels were 3 in. thick. A seam opened, instantaneously releasing thousands of gallons of water. After the event occurred, a quick-thinking maintenance person stuffed the crack with cloth napkins saving all the aquatic life, except for one shark. This failure was the result of poor bonding of a vertical seam during manufacturing. Over time, this seam opened slightly by crazing, creating a stress concentration, which led to the catastrophic event.

Dubai Mall (World’s Largest) Aquarium: Home to more than 33,000 fish, including 400 sharks and stingrays, the aquarium formed a crack on Feb. 25, 2010. The 2.5-million-gallon aquarium contains the world's largest single piece of acrylic, measuring 2.5 ft in thickness. A crack formed at an interior viewing tunnel, resulting in a significant amount of water loss. The crack was quickly repaired and there was no loss of aquatic life.

Mazatlan, Mexico: A large crack formed instantaneously in a 3-in.-thick curved overhead viewing panel on Feb. 3, 2017, shortly after the aquarium had closed for the day. The 1.2-million-gallon aquarium housed 13 large sharks at the time of the failure. The crack released over three quarters of the water in the aquarium, allowing for the safe removal of the sharks. This crack initiated at a large gouge mark at the exterior of the tank.

T-Rex, Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL: On March 17, 2014, just as dinner was being served at the T-Rex restaurant at Walt Disney World, a vertical bonded seam opened instantaneously in a large cylindrical aquarium. The aquarium was located adjacent to dining tables resulting in a number of people becoming drenched. The opening was approximately three feet long, giving employees time to transfer fish to other aquariums located on the grounds. "

Above quoted text taken from here:

When acrylic aquariums fail

The outstanding properties of PMMA have enabled the construction of massive aquariums, which have become some of the most popular attractions in the world. To p

www.plasticstoday.com

 

[zozo]

Acrylic is a incredibly strong material ,so l guess the actual weight with water was on a poor foundation, examples of poor foundations show you cannot cut corners with them. It's a guess

Entire buildings can prolapse over time obviously all structures within do the same. And Berlin also seems to be extensively tunnelled. Since it was a rather tall acrylic tower of water then obviously the tower of Pisa idea is a recipe for disaster I guess an inch could be enough.

In the area where I live used to be the coal mining district 40 years ago, and we have a massive subterranean network. Still today, loads of houses suffer cracked facades, windows and door frames, that the so-called Mining Damage no insurance company covers. Old tunnels collapsing and prolapsing all that's above. It's a pretty common scenery in my region.

So I live on top of the coal deposits and the rest of the country on the peatlands that are sinking and taking buildings down with it for other obvious reasons.

 

[PARAGUAY]

I suppose a lot of these aquariums in places were it's got to be a attraction are getting more "outrageous"pushing the limits. Could be squeaky bum time for a few Public aquarium architects just now 😂

 

[John q]

The investigation continues and should be completed by mid - July, they cannot promise that the cause of the sudden breakup can be clearly determined.

Profis puzzeln Riesen-Aquarium wieder zusammen: Wie konnte der Aquadom in Berlin platzen?

In einer Lagerhalle in Brandenburg soll ermittelt werden, warum das Berliner Riesen-Aquarium zu Bruch ging. Die Arbeit gleicht echter Detektivarbeit.

www.tagesspiegel.de

 

[Myrtle]

It's only in photos like this that you can appreciate just how thick the acrylic was!

 

[Andy Pierce]

They should have used transparent aluminium instead of acrylic!

 

[sparkyweasel]

It's only in photos like this that you can appreciate just how thick the acrylic was!

But not quite thick enough. 🙂

 

[Myrtle]

But not quite thick enough. 🙂

Clearly!

 

[John q]

So the report is finaly done:

Report on bursting of huge Berlin aquarium inconclusive.​

A final report on what led a giant Berlin aquarium to burst last December, sending 1,400 tropical fish gushing into a hotel lobby, came back inconclusive Wednesday.

The head of the investigation, Christian Bonten, said he had narrowed the likely cause down to three possible theories but admitted the true trigger of the disaster may never be known.
"It's frustrating," he told reporters as he presented his 66-page appraisal.

The 14-metre (46-foot) high, cylindrical AquaDom aquarium -- the largest of its kind -- exploded in the early morning on December 16 last year, sending one million litres of water and all the fish inside spilling out into the hotel complex housing it.

Two people suffered light injuries from glass splinters and were treated in hospital, while dozens of the fish were recovered and taken to local zoos.

Bonten said his team had essentially ruled out sabotage early on and focused on possible material faults, either deriving from the construction two decades before or in the course of a major renovation in 2020.

After examining hundreds of shards of the acrylic glass that comprised the aquarium, he said he suspected defects in the adhesive used to join up the panels, damage incurred in replacing the base that led to small cracks, or a degrading of parts of the tank.

Bonten said he concluded the "tsunami", as officials described it at the time, could not have been prevented by aquarium staff. "It happened suddenly and without warning," he said.

Fabian Hellbusch, spokesman for Union Investment, which owns the complex, said the company expected all of the shops and restaurants inside to reopen by November and the hotel, whose rooms were not damaged, at a later point.

He said the lobby would be redesigned. "But it will not include an aquarium."

Source: Report on bursting of huge Berlin aquarium inconclusive

 

[seedoubleyou]

I think they’re hiding something. My guess is that they’re embarrassed for not putting a foam mat underneath the tank.

 

[sparkyweasel]

I wonder how much the report cost?
It basically says there was either something wrong with the material or something wrong with the way it was put together. 🙂

 

[John q]

I wonder how much the report cost?

Lol, over 1100 engineering hours alone went into the report, and I'm guessing Christian Bonten and his team weren't on minimum wage.
But hey o Union investment seem to think they can claim all loses back through their insurance, hence commissioning the report.

For these that can't be bothered to read the full press release by Union investment (the owners of AquaDom) here's the jucy bit from it.

"The damage caused to the building as a result of the accident, the damage-related deconstruction and reconstruction as well as the justified rent reductions of the rental space are insured by a consortium within the framework of a property insurance policy. Settlement of the damage has already begun and is proceeding smoothly. "We are grateful for the speedy settlement and that neither we nor our investors are expected to suffer any monetary loss as a result of this property damage," said Fabian Hellbusch, spokesman for Union Investment."

Full press release and more in depth report findings here:​

Final report AquaDom, Berlin

Our commissioned expert Prof. Christian Bonten presented his final report after the breakage of the outer acrylic glass cylinder. Get to know more!

realestate.union-investment.com

 

[Aqua360]

Probably all for the best, wasn't large enough to keep even a betta in

 

[Allanib]

Just doing a little digging around and it seems this isn't the first high profile acrylic aquarium to fail. Admittedly this failure appears to be on another level.

"Orient Shopping Center, Shanghai: This aquarium failed two years after installation, injuring 15 people and killing several sharks and turtles. The tank was constructed with 15-cm (5.9-in.) thick acrylic panels to hold 33 tons of water. The tank failed catastrophically without warning on Dec. 27, 2012.

Gulfstream Casino, Hallandale Beach, FL: The14-ft-diameter x 14-ft-high cylindrical aquarium opened at a fabricated (bonded) seam. Another example of why it is better to play on a gambling site than to visit a land-based casino. The acrylic panels were 3 in. thick. A seam opened, instantaneously releasing thousands of gallons of water. After the event occurred, a quick-thinking maintenance person stuffed the crack with cloth napkins saving all the aquatic life, except for one shark. This failure was the result of poor bonding of a vertical seam during manufacturing. Over time, this seam opened slightly by crazing, creating a stress concentration, which led to the catastrophic event.

Dubai Mall (World’s Largest) Aquarium: Home to more than 33,000 fish, including 400 sharks and stingrays, the aquarium formed a crack on Feb. 25, 2010. The 2.5-million-gallon aquarium contains the world's largest single piece of acrylic, measuring 2.5 ft in thickness. A crack formed at an interior viewing tunnel, resulting in a significant amount of water loss. The crack was quickly repaired and there was no loss of aquatic life.

Mazatlan, Mexico: A large crack formed instantaneously in a 3-in.-thick curved overhead viewing panel on Feb. 3, 2017, shortly after the aquarium had closed for the day. The 1.2-million-gallon aquarium housed 13 large sharks at the time of the failure. The crack released over three quarters of the water in the aquarium, allowing for the safe removal of the sharks. This crack initiated at a large gouge mark at the exterior of the tank.

T-Rex, Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL: On March 17, 2014, just as dinner was being served at the T-Rex restaurant at Walt Disney World, a vertical bonded seam opened instantaneously in a large cylindrical aquarium. The aquarium was located adjacent to dining tables resulting in a number of people becoming drenched. The opening was approximately three feet long, giving employees time to transfer fish to other aquariums located on the grounds. "

Above quoted text taken from here:

When acrylic aquariums fail

The outstanding properties of PMMA have enabled the construction of massive aquariums, which have become some of the most popular attractions in the world. To p

www.plasticstoday.com

It seems that these high-profile aquarium accidents have been quite dramatic and, in some cases, dangerous. It is amazing how such massive structures, designed to hold tons of water and marine life, can fail so suddenly and with such force.