From the Archives: March 29, 1956

This 1956 picture depicts the world report, long-span, glue-laminated timber arches being assembled for a 3,500-seat jai alai fronton in West Palm Seaside, Fla. The arches had a transparent span of 242.5 ft, an increase of 74 ft, and a circumferential size of 294 ft.

Every of the 11-in.-thick arches widened from 25 in. on the base to 46 in. on the crown, have been spaced 16 ft aside, weighed over 15 tons and contained 17,000 board ft. Wooden was chosen due to economic system and ease of erection.

Plywood templates have been constructed to the precise dimension and form of the arches, and used to set gluing varieties and later in trimming the members. Given the massive dimension of the templets a close-by airport was used because the format flooring for sample development.

The arches have been fabricated by Unit Buildings, Inc. in Wisconsin and shipped to Florida in 4 sections to fulfill railroad clearance necessities. The lamina have been made with 2×12-in. southern pine. The longest lamina have been over 90 ft.

The employee is hammering the pin within the welded metal hinge on the crown. One among Unit Buildings companions, Max Hanisch, a German architect and engineer, introduced the glulam course of to the U.S., which had been invented and patented in 1901 by Otto Karl Freidrich Hetzer, a German carpenter and inventor.

The fronton was destroyed in a fireplace in 1978.