:: National Air and Space Museum ::

Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum
Near washington, VA, U.S.A.

5,500 tons

Located near the Dulles Airport in Washington D.C., this prestigious architectural and structural steel project covers an area of 760,000 square feet (71,970 square meters) and includes a 10-storey column-free hangar, and a 200-feet (61.5 meters) observation tower, requiring a total of 5,500 tons of steel.

The column-free exhibition hangar is made of over 17 extra-long triangular trusses, approximately 340-feet long (104 m), on a 103-foot radius (31.7 m), and weighing an average of 75 tons each. These arches remained visible once the project was completed.

ADF came up with efficient engineering, fabrication and installation solutions to this complex, multi-angle and variable axis steel structure. One third of the trusses were pre-assembled to guarantee a tight fit and proper alignment, and the knocked down components were then shipped to the site to be re-assembled in bigger sections of four arches with decks, and lifted in place. The third section linking the two side sections, was then installed.

Owner:       The Smithsonian Institute
Client:       Hensel Phelps Construction Co.
Architects: Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK)
Engineer:    Spiegel, Zamenick & Shah Inc.