Photo courtesy of Interstate Roofing Inc., Portland, Ore.
Photo courtesy of Interstate Roofing Inc., Portland, Ore.
Photo courtesy of Interstate Roofing Inc., Portland, Ore.
Photo courtesy of Interstate Roofing Inc., Portland, Ore.
In 1998, the late Harold LeMay and his wife, Nancy, of Tacoma, Wash., formed a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, The Harold E. LeMay Museum, to which they donated their vehicle collection. At its peak, the LeMay collection exceeded 3,000 vehicles and was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest privately owned collection in the world.
Now called LeMay—America's Car Museum, the new museum recently built in downtown Tacoma will be one of the world's largest auto museums and attractions when it opens in June 2012. It will house up to 500 cars, trucks and motorcycles from private owners, corporations and the LeMay collection. The purpose of LeMay—America's Car Museum is to be a place for auto enthusiasts to experience innovative technology, interactive exhibits and more. The four-story museum features a 9-acre campus that includes the 165,000-square-foot museum, a collector car center, 3 1/2-acre show field, galleries, banquet hall and car storage, among other features.
A unique barrel roof system was planned for the building, and Interstate Roofing Inc., Portland, Ore., and Architectural Metal Works Inc., Portland, partnered to design and install it.
A tough road
Interstate Roofing installed 78,000 square feet of 40-mil-thick Bemo Xtreme HT underlayment on the plywood roof deck. Architectural Metal Works installed 8 1/2-inch-thick roxul wool insulation between shop-tapered 8-inch Z purlins spaced 4 feet on center horizontally on the roof deck and then covered it with a structural metal panel roof system of 0.040-inch-thick mill-finished aluminum. Architectural Metal Works also custom-fabricated all the flashings, gutters and ridges.
The companies faced various challenges during the project that caused delays, including issues with the roof deck.
"The roof took longer to complete than expected, mostly because of deck deficiencies," says Shelley Metzler, president of Interstate Roofing. "Because the curved structure was built completely of wood, we found the deck had significant inconsistencies. This forced us to survey the deck and create diagrams and pictures as a document for the installers and general contractor, JTM Construction, Seattle. We then installed composite shims between the roof panel and Z purlins to acquire a smooth plane."
The smooth plane allowed the metal panels to be flat and aesthetically pleasing for the owner. Additionally, it helped alleviate oil canning of the metal panels.
A change of plans during the project also caused delays.
"There were several design changes at the beginning of the project, such as a new built-in gutter attachment method and the addition of curved soffit panels," says Ken Dickson, president of Architectural Metal Works.
The changes were complicated and required more material, as well as additional time to form and install it.
Additionally, lifting the metal roof panels to the roof posed challenges.
"Once the panels were fabricated, as well as milled and curved on-site, loading them on the roof proved challenging," Metzler says. "It took a 300-ton crane and a custom-designed crating system. It certainly was a learning process, and some panels were damaged in the beginning."
As a result of the damaged panels, more panels had to be fabricated.
"The installation of this one-of-a-kind project certainly was a challenge, but thanks to the help of the JTM Construction team, the project was a success," says Tom Breault, project manager for Architectural Metal Works.
A crew of as many as 22 workers labored from sunrise to sunset each day to meet the tight deadline. Worker safety was important on the roof, which, because of its barrel shape, had slopes ranging from 1/2:12 to completely vertical walls.
"A manlift was used to access all the steep-slope areas," Metzler says. "Standard lanyards and harnesses were used for all the low-slope sections."
Final destination
"The most rewarding part of the job was successfully completing the project within a tight deadline," Metzler says.
And the building's distinctive appearance may help entice the 425,000 visitors expected each year.
"The building is a completely unique design," Metzler says.
Breault agrees that the building and its roof system are unconventional.
"It's a radius building, and the north and south ends are lower than the peak, so the roof forms a radius east to west and grows taller from south to north," Breault says. "It's an unconventional dome. The panels were a compound radius. I've never seen it done with sheet metal.
"It's a great-looking roof," he continues. "As the aluminum weathers, it's going to look even better over time."
Krista Reisdorf is director of online communications for Professional Roofing magazine.
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