Gulf Stream Tank Concrete Pour at the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science

Photography by Nathan Valentine, Ryan Troy on December 19th, 2014 in Lifestyle

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Miami, FL – December 12, 2014 – Starting last Friday, crews worked non-stop for 24 hours, 48 minutes and 59 straight seconds, to place over 1,200 cubic yards (120 trucks) of concrete, making up more than 9,000 square feet of tank surface area, filling the walls of the massive cone-shaped Gulf Stream tank aquarium and marking the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science’s biggest milestone in construction to date. The 500,000 gallon tank, open to the sun and sky, will serve as the centerpiece of the new Museum. Not only will this be the city’s newest iconic landmark, but also one of the most complex projects currently being undertaken in the United States. In addition to the erection of monumental amounts of shoring and formwork, impressive in and of itself, the laborious groundwork included the installation of over 370 tons of epoxy coated steel reinforcement intertwined by a web of 57 pipes containing over 700 high strength post tensioning cables that generate over 14,000 tons of compression force into the concrete to prevent cracking once poured. Stepping onto the outdoor top level of the Living Core once the Museum opens in 2016, visitors will encounter the 100-foot open surface of the tank vessel to catch glimpses of marine creatures such as hammerhead sharks and tunas. This milestone means the Museum is officially more than half-way through construction and on track to open its doors in the summer of 2016. In a city where construction cranes dominate the skyline, this Museum is undeniably the most elaborate project being built in Miami.

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