Protective glazing with a view at Florida airport

When the $438 million Midfield Terminal Complex at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, Fla., opened in September 2005, it was not only the largest public works project ever undertaken in the coastal city, but it also incorporated some of the largest pieces of hurricane glass ever installed in Florida. The massive glass panes measure just five feet wide but soar 27 feet high. No module of this size had ever been tested to Miami-Dade standards before, let alone designed to meet Department of Defense standards for blast resistance (a requirement for post-9/11 airports).

The Building Team turned to its suppliers to design a custom glass system that would pass both tests. Tampa, Fla.-based BCIndustries provided the custom die shapes, glass thicknesses, glass, and metal materials for the system, while Tremco, Beachwood, Ohio, conducted extensive adhesion tests for the silicone to determine the appropriate primers and cleaning solutions. Through testing, Tremco engineers were able to calculate the proper gasket specification and optimal silicone bite. The system passed with flying colors, meeting both Miami-Dade standards and Category 3 blast requirements without a single silicone failure.

Tremco Input No. 203 at BDCnetwork.com/quickResponse