MINNEAPOLIS -- The Metrodome repair job is getting bigger.
The number of damaged roof panels that need replacement could go as high as nine, and the fabrication of new panels is set to start today at a plant in Tijuana, Mexico.
While the timeline for the Dome's repair and reinflation is still unknown, the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission will get a report from an engineer this morning that could provide details.
"They're hoping to know the full extent of the damage and get a real good sense of the timing (for repair)," said Pat Milan, a commission spokesman.
Four panels were damaged when the Metrodome roof first collapsed under the weight of a 17-inch snowfall on the weekend of Dec. 11-12. Engineers used a shotgun Monday to blow out a fifth panel that was under stress from a heavy load of ice -- essentially a controlled rupture.
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More recently, engineers have identified an additional three or four panels that are still carrying ice loads and may be "candidates" for replacement. A couple of those panels "have torn slightly but haven't done the whole fall-down routine," Milan said.
One damaged panel still under stress may be shot out to relieve its ice load, but that's uncertain, said Bill Lester, the executive director of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission.
"The first priority is a safe working environment," he said.
When one of the panels tore, roof plugs that trap moisture popped and water fell to the Metrodome's field. Engineers
have been able to raise the temperature in the Dome, and the snow melting on the roof is going well.
"It's raining quite a bit" from the roof onto the Dome's floor, said Lester. Monday's snowfall didn't cause additional problems for the sagging roof, he said.
Birdair Inc., the company that installed the Dome's roof in 1981, contracts with a plant in Tijuana where replacement roof panels are being fabricated. The sports facilities commission allocated $1.5 million for repairs last week, though the number of panels that may need replacement has grown since then.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
