Union Tank Car Dome

Union Tank Car Dome
Baton Rouge, Louisiana (LA), US
The Baton Rouge dome is among the most important because it was the world's first large industrial use of the geodesic concept.

From the outside, the design of the dome makes it seem smaller than it actually is. Its diameter is 384 feet, making it big enough to house a baseball field. It's 125 feet high, weighs 620 tons and is 110,000 square feet. Each of the 321 welded steel hexagons weighs roughly 2 tons.

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Inside the dome is another dome, and the second one surrounds a control tower that is 80 feet high. The second dome, once covered with glass, served no purpose.

The building has changed hands and now is owned by KCS Rail.
The Baton Rouge dome is among the most important because it was the world's first large industrial use of the geodesic concept.

From the outside, the design of the dome makes it seem smaller than it actually is. Its diameter is 384 feet, making it big enough to house a baseball field. It's 125 feet high, weighs 620 tons and is 110,000 square feet. Each of the 321 welded steel hexagons weighs roughly 2 tons.

Inside the dome is another dome, and the second one surrounds a control tower that is 80 feet high. The second dome, once covered with glass, served no purpose.

The building has changed hands and now is owned by KCS Rail.
View in Google Earth Domes
Links: www.bestofneworleans.com
By: shunter

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kjfitz picture
kjfitz
@ 2006-03-02 15:15:43
The dome and surrounding land have been for sale for several years at an asking price of $500,000.
kjfitz picture
kjfitz
@ 2010-11-16 13:48:19
The dome, once the largest clear span dome in the world, has been torn down:
http://www.psfk.com/2010/10/a-necessary-ruin.html
Anonymous picture
Anonymous
@ 2012-10-04 14:07:29
The Union Tank Car geodesic Dome was designed by Thomas C. Howard of Synergetics, Inc. Engineer Consultant - Dr. M. E. Uyanik. 1957-8. Buckminster Fuller did NOT design this or any other dome of Synergetics, Inc. Bucky Fuller patented the geometry for geodesic domes.
shunter picture
shunter
@ 2012-10-04 14:34:34
To Anonymous @ 2012-10-04 14:07:29,

Thank you for giving credit where it is due. I believe the description reads "the world's first large industrial use of the geodesic concept," not that it was designed by Fuller.

Regrettably, this structure no longer stands.

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