Bemo USA’s engineered metal roof system survives another record typhoon
Just two years after the Category 4 Typhoon Soudelor devastated the Northern Mariana Islands of Saipan and Tinian, the Category 5 Super Typhoon Yutu slammed the islands with the highest sustained winds recorded in nearly a century. The devastation was catastrophic.
Category 5 Super Typhoon Yutu hit the islands October 2018 and was recorded as the strongest since 1935. With winds sustained at 180 mph and reported gusts to 242 mph, both islands were devastated. Buildings, homes and power lines were destroyed, trees were toppled and stripped of their leaves and people took refuge in fortified concrete structures. After the typhoon passed over the islands, the damage was unimaginable.
Post-World War II, Saipan became an US territory, with an economy driven by textiles. Because of early favorable trade, labor and tariff agreements, Saipan’s economy was driven by textiles. In 2006, Congress allowed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to expire and textile factories began to close, leaving Saipan’s economy mostly dependent on tourism. Saipan International Airport’s role in the region’s economy became even more essential as a lifeline for residents and supplies. Insuring the structural integrity of the terminal buildings became critical.
In 2006, Bemo USA Corporation was contracted to re-roof the international airport terminal buildings with custom roll-formed and curved aluminum roof panels. Since the installation, two on the most powerful and devastating typhoons in history have ravaged the islands. In both storms, the Bemo panels have never failed to protect the structure. The Bemo 305 .050 Aluminum panels are still firmly fastened to the terminal structure.
After the 2015 Typhoon Soudelor and the recent 2018 Super Typhoon Yutu, the airport sustained damage to its infrastructure and passenger systems. There is damage to the roof structure, but not from the Bemo panels being torn off the structure during the high winds. The damage was from heavy metal airport equipment being tossed onto the roof and other flying debris that pierced and bent the aluminum panels. In fact, a terminal jetway was found nearly a mile away from the building after being ripped off during the typhoon.
BEMO USA has locations in Singapore and Doha, Qatar and is a world leader in standing seam metal roofing and wall systems. With projects that span the world, BEMO gleaming roofs can be found on airports, sports complexes, distribution centers and transportation hubs around the globe. For more information please refer to www.bemousa.com.
Report from Typhoon Soudelor
BEMO Retrofit Roof Survives 2015 Category 4 Typhoon Soudelor in Saipan
In the late evening of August 2, super Typhoon Soudelor collided with the island of Saipan leaving a previously green and lush paradise stripped and broken. Typhoon Soudelor was one of several typhoons this season that crippled island services but Soudelor was the most intense to date. Clocking wind speeds of 120 to 156 mph, Soudelor stripped trees bare, flooded roads, destroyed homes and buildings and left the island without water and power. Witnesses of the typhoon tell of roofs torn off buildings, cars toppled, power line on the ground, trees uprooted and broken. One survivor, a local physician, talked with his neighbor who had an independent weather station located on high ground that recorded two gusts of 214 mph before the station was blown away.
Throughout the storm, the Saipan International Airport terminal and its retrofit roof stood firm. BEMO engineered and manufactured the roofing system that covers the airport. Their engineering team designed the sub-framing system to handle the roof loads, provided additional insulation and installed the retrofit engineered roof system. Although, Typhoon Soudelor has not been the only typhoon to hit the island since the installation of the roof system, it ranks as one of the most severe.
The BEMO 305 panels installed on the airport terminal buildings were made of .050 aluminum. Bemo USA manufactured custom panels that were milled and curved onsite to assure a lasting engineered solution. Each BEMO 305 panel was mounted with BEMO Hook Clips on 14 ga. Galvanized hat bars. Each Galvanized bar was fastened through ¼” Densdeck and 2” polyisocyanurate insulation into the wood deck below.
BEMO International has locations in Singapore and Doha, Qatar and is a world leader in standing seam metal roofing and wall systems. With projects that span the world, BEMO gleaming roofs can be found on airports, sports complexes, distribution centers and transportation hubs around the globe. For more information please refer to www.bemointernational.com.