It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
Originally posted by BrokenCircles
One thing that I am finding to be quite odd, is how smooth it looks.
ifford was commissioned to provide two circular concrete tanks in separate locations. Each of these has a capacity of 10 million gallons, a diameter of 80m and a storage height of 9m, with a heavily reinforced concrete base slab bearing onto prepared ground. They are protected from excessive evaporation and sand infiltration by a shallow domed roof slab of pre-cast concrete on a radial arrangement of beams of moderate span. These, in turn, are supported on an array of concrete columns within the tank space, which carry the roof load down to the base slab. Notable Features Concentric tank compartments – The client’s brief specified that 1) the structures were to have an acceptable appearance without introducing unnecessary clutter into the landscape and 2) that each reservoir could be cleaned periodically whilst maintaining substantial storage and supply. Following a similar prestressed concrete design to the 80m outer tank, our solution was to create an internal division with a concentric inner compartment of 50m diameter. Efficient prestressed concrete design – Our prestressed concrete wall design limits cracking to very low levels, providing long-term durability and watertightness, while the external surface of the outer tank walls can be subjected to high solar gain and significant temperature differentials. The use of an unbonded prestressing system was coupled with separate anchorage points housed in simple external pilasters at intervals around the tank walls and integral with them. This ensured that applied tendon prestress was effective around the whole perimeter. Inexpensive joint detailing at the base of the tank walls allowed for movement under initial prestressing. Simplicity for rapid construction – Each tank’s 82m base slab was cast in a single pour of 3,200 metres of concrete; believed to be the largest ‘single pours’ in the UAE at that time. The walls were straightforward to construct as the use of unbonded prestressing tendons simplified reinforcement cage and anchorage detailing and removed the need to post-cast grouting of hollow ducts. The prestressed roof was also simple, economic and easy to erect.