The Goodyear Airdock is a construction and storage airship hangar in Akron, Ohio. At its completion in 1929, it was the largest building in the world without interior supports. The building has a unique shape which has been described as "half a silkworm's cocoon, cut in half the long way." It is 1,175 feet long, 325 feet wide, and 211 feet high, supported by 13 st…
The Goodyear Airdock is a construction and storage airship hangar in Akron, Ohio. At its completion in 1929, it was the largest building in the world without interior supports. The building has a unique shape which has been described as "half a silkworm's cocoon, cut in half the long way." It is 1,175 feet long, 325 feet wide, and 211 feet high, supported by 13 steel arches. There is 364,000 square feet of unobstructed floor space, or an area larger than 8 football fields side-by-side. The airdock has a volume of 55 million cubic feet. A control tower and radio aerial sit at its northeast end. At each end of the building are two huge semi-spherical doors that each weigh 600 tons. At the top, the doors are fastened by hollow forged pins 17 inches in diameter and six feet long. The doors roll on 40 wheels along specially-designed curved railroad tracks, each powered by an individual power plant that can open the doors in about 5 minutes.
Location: S side of the Akron Fulton International Airport, Akron, Ohio
Built: 1929/30
Architect: Karl Arnstein, Paul K. Helma, Wilbur J. Watson
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