(BOS) Hilton Boston Logan International Airport, Boston
Massachusetts
Date: 1998
Watertight, insulated, non-invasive, attractive–moving.
Skywalks at Hilton Hotel, Logan International Airport sealed with Seismic Colorseal by EMSEAL.
A pedestrian sky-bridge connects central parking with the Logan Hilton hotel. At each end of the skybridge are structural expansion joints to absorb the expansion and contraction of the skybridge as well as any possible seismic movements.
Sealing between the curtain-wall mullions of the sky-bridge and the precast concrete panels of both the garage and the hotel facade required a joint system that promised continuity of seal through all the direction changes and featured the practical ability to be installed where there is obstructed access at inside corners.
In addition, the material must be watertight, look good, thermally insulate, block sound, resist air-pressure differentials, and must do all of this while moving through extreme seasonal temperature cycles.
Note: Specified for this project was a non-watertight “strip seal”. Invasive anchors would not only violate the mullion integrity, but made it impossible to install this type of system into the inside-corners. In addition it would have been impossible to make the rubber seals continuous in all the direction changes. Finally, strip seals impart no R-value at joints as the aluminum rails and screws are a thermal bridge and rubber has little insulation value.
Aesthetics: The appearance of the seal making the intersection between the curtainwall and the masonry is critical to the architect and owner.
Selection of Gray from the standard 26-COLORS makes the seal appear an integral part of the skywalk curtainwall system
Seismic Colorseal by EMSEAL uniquely handles all of the challenges posed by this application.
Non-invasive anchoring ensures that the metal framing of the skylight and other substrates is not violated.
High wind resistance–Curtainwall systems are required to be tested to meet the ASTM performance tests E-293, E-331, and E-330. Sealants generally are not. To us it makes sense that the expansion joint sealant that will connect the curtainwall to the building should be independently certified to meet the same criteria. Consequently, we have tested Seismic Colorseal to meet or substantially exceed these same standards.
Multiple changes in plane and direction are readily handled through field mitering and splicing. Using joining silicone supplied from the same batch used to manufacture the coating ensures continuity of seal throughout the expansion joint run.
Thermal Insulation: Because skywalks are suspended, expansion joints are particularly susceptible to allowing thermal loss. Seismic Colorseal has an R-value of 2.15 per inch of depth giving this application an R-rating of more than 8.5 at the joints.
Seismic Colorseal is one of the hugely versatile family of cutting edge hybrid sealing technologies available from EMSEAL
