Gocheok Sky Dome Conducts 'Artificial Rainfall Reproducibility Experiment' Twice

Seoul Facilities Corporation Conducts Midterm Verification of Roof Leak Cause and Path Analysis Service... Investigation and Discussion with Top Domestic Experts in Architectural Structure, Roofing, and Waterproofing Fields

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Seoul Facilities Corporation (Chairman Seong-il Jo) is making efforts to fundamentally resolve the leakage of the Gocheok Sky Dome roof. As part of this, it conducted the first-ever "Rainfall Reproducibility Experiment" for sports facilities in Korea on February 25 and March 4 in two sessions.

Through this, the causes and paths of the roof leakage identified through the service and on-site investigations conducted since November last year were verified. Together with the country's top experts, countermeasures were prepared, and repair and reinforcement work is planned to be completed within the year to alleviate citizen inconvenience.

High-Pressure Water Rain Simulation

Gocheok Sky Dome, Korea's first dome stadium, opened in November 2015 with high expectations from baseball fans. However, roof leaks occurred from the early days of its opening. Although silicone work and closure of the outer drainage channels were performed each time, these measures were ineffective. Until 2020, a total of 148 roof leak incidents occurred, causing inconvenience and criticism from spectators.

Accordingly, since November last year, the corporation has been conducting expert-led services and advisory meetings to find and verify the fundamental and accurate causes of the roof leakage, rather than temporary patchwork solutions.

The corporation, together with the Korea Construction Waterproofing Society, Hyundai Development Company, and top domestic experts in architectural structure, roofing, and waterproofing fields, conducted detailed drawing reviews, drone surveys, and dismantling of suspicious areas for thorough on-site investigations. After analyzing the causes of leakage, repair and reinforcement plans were prepared and advisory meetings were held.

Reproducing the airflow of a blower operation

As a result, it was identified that the joints between roof panels and drainage channels, as well as the treatment around the landscape lighting, were the causes of leakage. A "Rainfall Reproducibility Experiment" was conducted to simulate water and wind conditions similar to actual rainfall situations.

This was the first attempt for a domestic sports facility. Reflecting the opinions of the structural designer from the time of Gocheok Sky Dome's construction, an air mattress water tank was installed on the roof within a range that does not impose excessive load on the roof membrane. Water was sprayed on the roof membrane, and wind was simulated using seven blowers to analyze the water movement paths.

The corporation also released a video of the "Rainfall Reproducibility Experiment" on the same day.

Furthermore, based on the results of the rainfall reproducibility experiment, on March 11, the corporation held an investigation and discussion meeting with top domestic experts in architectural structure, roofing, and waterproofing fields to prepare repair and reinforcement measures according to the causes of leakage, with plans to complete repair and reinforcement work within the year.

Initially, by June, sealing and waterproofing will be performed around the drainage channel joints verified by the reproducibility experiment. For the landscape lighting, where significant leakage occurs during heavy rain accompanied by strong winds, water-stop type cutoff boards, which were proposed by the corporation in 2015 and applied at Jangchung Gymnasium with proven complete effectiveness, will be installed to complete external repair and reinforcement work.

Gocheok Sky Dome is a large metal dome sensitive to deformation such as expansion and contraction due to seasonal temperature changes and sagging caused by snow load, which easily affects waterproofing functions. Therefore, external work alone may have limitations in achieving perfect waterproofing.

Accordingly, an induced drainage method will be applied to leakage-prone sections for double reinforcement. The induced drainage work is planned to be completed during the Tokyo Olympics period in July and August, when there are no professional baseball schedules.

The induced drainage method will undergo a primary structural safety review, and once detailed drawings are completed, additional structural reviews will be conducted to decide on a method that does not affect the existing structure.

Additionally, in the second half of this year, an exterior maintenance manual responding to exterior expansion and roof material aging will be prepared for systematic maintenance.

Since metal exterior dome stadiums are highly sensitive to new construction, the corporation plans to continuously monitor the correlation with roof structural displacement and the results of this year's repair and reinforcement work, and thoroughly manage the facilities to prevent recurrence of leakage and resolve citizen inconvenience.

Chairman Seong-il Jo stated, "We will provide optimal repair and reinforcement and continuous maintenance to resolve the Gocheok Sky Dome roof leakage issue so that citizens can enjoy baseball games without inconvenience."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.