On 7 October 2014 the Two Oceans Aquarium will take delivery and start installation of the large viewing panels and tunnel acrylics of the new large-scale exhibit that is currently under construction adjacent to the Aquarium.
A short section of Dock Road will be closed due to a crane being required to unload the panel.
The outgoing two lanes (from the Aquarium to the bend in Dock Rd, just past the One & Only Hotel) will be closed. Traffic will be redirected onto the other side of the road, which will therefore be bi-directional from Tuesday 7 October until Friday 10 October. Flagmen will be positioned at either end of the road deviation.
We do expect traffic congestion due to the deviation, and you are therefore encouraged to enter the V&A Waterfront using Granger Bay and Portswood Boulevards.
The panels were manufactured and shipped by Clax Italia in Italy. Representatives of both the Aquarium and Clax Italia will be overseeing the installation.
The large viewing panel, measuring nine metres in length and four metres in height, has been manufactured as one continuous panel. The panel is 35cm thick. The tunnel acrylics will arrive in four separate pieces and will then be assembled into one virtually seamless, 10-metre tunnel.
The panels are made of acrylic, a soft malleable plastic that, when used as a viewing panel, does not distort or discolour. This is the same material used in the Aquarium’s current I&J Predator Exhibit and the Ocean Basket Kelp Forest Exhibit. One of the most obvious differences between the current panels in the I&J Predator Exhibit and the panel for the new exhibit, is that the new panel is completely seamless. With the incredible technological advances that have been made in the past 18 years, the new acrylic panels and tunnel are also incredibly clear.
Representatives of the Aquarium have kept a close eye on the manufacturing of the panels, spending considerable time inspecting each individual piece to ensure absolute flawlessness and clarity before giving the go-ahead for shipment to South Africa.
Construction of the new exhibit started on 28 January 2014 and is expected to be completed later in the year. The completed exhibit will have a 1.5-million litre capacity and will incorporate the full tunnel and the nine-metre viewing panel.
See also:
- Aquarium expansion has us all a-twitter
- Aquarium expansion: month six
- Construction continues on our new exhibit
- Aquarium expansion: all coming together
- Aquarium expansion: month three
- Aquarium expansion: month two
- Aquarium expansion: one month in
- We’re expanding!
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