They say everything’s bigger in Texas, but right next door in Louisiana there’s actual proof—both recent and historically. Going back in time, it was the Louisiana Territory, purchased in 1803 by the United States from France, which almost doubled the size of our country. The only thing small about it was the price, a mere $15 million.
Now, let’s move forward to current times. The city of New Orleans is home to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. It’s the largest steel constructed structure unobstructed by posts in the world. The steel frame covers a 13-acre expanse. It’s multi-ringed frame has a diameter of 680 feet.
More Amazing Statistics
- It took 20,000 tons of steel to create the Superdome, and its roof reaches 273 feet into the sky. The entire St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans’ Jackson Square—which is only 172 feet high—could fit comfortably inside.
- Speaking of room, the structure has 166, 180 feet of entertainment space. It takes 9,000 tons of air conditioning to cool the 125,000,000 square feet of air inside.
- The exterior of the structure is made of almost 400,000 square feet of aluminum panels. Each panel is coated with an anodized bronze finish. They weight about 125 pounds apiece. Do the math. Wow!
- The LED lighting system is spectacular and yet highly efficient. More than 26,000 LED lights burn only as much energy as a single small home. None of those lights are expected to have to be replaced until the year 2057.
Construction of this structure began in August 1971 and was finished four years later. Even one of the strongest hurricanes in recorded history was no matched for the Superdome. Over 30,000 people took refuge inside as Hurricane Katrina tore the city of New Orleans apart. The storm did damage to the structure, but restoration began mere weeks afterwards.
The Steel Structure Connection
The same idea of truss construction that allows the Superdome to be completely free of posts for roof support is found in our buildings. Miracle Truss® Buildings feature strong clear-span web steel truss for support. These trusses are delivered to your property in 4 bolt-together pieces are test assembled at the factory. The Superdome was definitely not a DIY project. Your new Miracle Truss® building? It’s designed for the do-it-yourselfer.
The truss design means you’ve got no flat ceilings or low hanging rafters. Okay, there’s no square-foot comparison to the monster in New Orleans, but our building designs offer more usable interior space than traditional construction. You’ve got room for things like car lifts, or big vehicles like RVs. You can even think about putting in a loft living area.
Wood studs run horizontally on the trusses and walls. They create 24-inch on center stud pockets, so you’ve got normal dimensions for your interior. We’ll be honest: we don’t have anything similar to the LED lights on the Superdome, but you can install a different type of roofing or siding material on the building to make it match your surroundings. What can we help you build?
