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Berlin's Aquadom exploded, a capillary crack among the probable causes

The Berlin Radisson Collection Hotel is located in the Mitte, the most central district of the city. And the delight of the structure is the AquaDom. In fact, the centerpiece of the hall, is precisely the largest cylindrical aquarium in the world. It has a diameter of 11 meters and contains about 1 million liters of water.

Aquarium that last Friday, December 16, during the night, exploded, completely devastating the lobby of the spectacular hotel in Berlin.

And now the question that many are asking: how was it possible that such a complex structure built by the polycarbonate expert company could Reynolds Polymer explode in that way?

foto Ansa
The completely devastated lobby of the hotel "Radisson Blu"
The chronicle of recent days is that of the incredible explosion of the Berlin Aquadom . The world's largest cylindrical aquarium built in the lobby of the Radisson Collection Hotel located in the "Mitte", the most central district of the city.
foto Ansa
The explosion during the night
Fortunately, the explosion of the Aquadom occurred in the middle of the night between 15 and 16 December. If it happened later in the day, there would surely have been many wounded.
foto Ansa
Brief history of Aquadom
The Berlin Aquadom is a 16-metre-high cylindrical glass aquarium, opened on December 2, 2003. Inside there is a glass elevator, which allows the visitor to observe it having the feeling of being immersed in it. The huge water cylinder was built by the American company Reynolds Polymer. The company is an expert in polycarbonate and has built aquariums all over the world such as in South Korea, Morocco and Holland.
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But how did this happen?
One of the accredited hypotheses, provided by the German newspaper "Bild", is that of a small capillary crack. There is also talk of the possibility that one of the divers in charge of the frequent cleaning of theAquadom hit the glass of the imposing aquarium with the cylinder. Especially since the entrance to the aquarium is particularly narrow.
foto Ansa
Could the accident have been avoided?
Carsten Kunert, of the Berlin glass company Vandaglas, speaks to the Bild of several factors would have led to the weakening of the structure. For example, salt water, UV lamps, make plastic more porous. According to Kunert there was a "fatigue of the material". But he also says, "It's also possible that there's an error in construction." Could the accident have been avoided? "With safety glass and special film, it wouldn't have happened. But acrylic material is often used for structures similar toAquadom, because otherwise the walls would have to be built much thicker," Kunertconcluded.
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