By the time Katrina hit Aug. 29, some 20,000 residents had taken shelter in the Superdome. By midday, the wind had ripped holes in the rubberized roof, causing water to rain down on the occupants.

The lights went out. The streets around the Superdome flooded when the levees broke. Chaos ensued when thousands more packed into the Superdome. Food and water were scarce, which led some to ransack concession stands and luxury suites. It took almost a week to evacuate everyone.

It looked unsalvageable. Huge sections of the white roof, which spans almost 10 acres, tore off, revealing a black underbelly. Trash was piled several feet high all around the Superdome, which fills two city blocks.

"I think the image of New Orleans that America had was that image of the damaged roof," said Doug Thornton. "It was very, very important to us not only from the operations side to get the roof temporarily repaired, but symbolically. ...It showed we are making progress."

The permanent roof will be made of spray-applied foam, which was what covered the Superdome for 25 years. In 2001 the foam was replaced with a rubberized roof, which tore off during the storm.

The project's scope was immense: The roof covers an area of 9-1/2 acres, and is 275 feet at its apex. But just as daunting was the time frame for the project, which needed to be completed within six months of the contract award to ensure the Superdome was ready prior to the Saints' first home game of the 2006-07 football season.

Material began shipping March 10, and less than 4-1/2 months later, on July 27, the project was completed.

The project entailed removing the damaged roof in sections measuring 40-feet-long by three-feet-wide. Each section was replaced with a new panel of the same size that had been sprayed with a seamless, leak-resistant layer of closed-cell insulating foam. An elastomeric coating was then applied over the foam for further protection. Once the new panel was raised into place by a crane equipped with a special "cradle", it was welded into place. Once again, spray foam and a coating were applied.

This process was repeated 3,750 times.

After all sections had been welded in place, the roof was power washed to remove welding slag, and another coating layer was applied.

In addition to its excellent appearance, the new Superdome roof is designed to withstand almost anything Mother Nature can dish out: BaySystems offers a 10-year warranty from the date of completion for leaks and unlimited resistance to wind damage.

According to Stockdale, SPR spray foam systems from BaySystems have a proven track record for challenging roofing applications such as this, including the roof for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s football stadium, located just 60 miles from New Orleans. "We have more than 30 years of proven performance in the roofing industry, with well over a billion square feet of SPF roofing applied in a wide range of environments," he explained.

BaySystems NorthAmerica is a leading manufacturer of spray applied polyurethane foam roofing systems, with over 30 years of proven performance in the roofing industry. BaySystems NorthAmerica roofing systems provide durable, trouble-free performance in any climate and under any weather conditions, and with Underwriters Laboratories and Factory Mutual approvals, they can be used in new construction or applied over virtually any existing roof. BaySystems NorthAmerica sells to commercial contractors and original equipment manufacturers serving the commercial pipe and specialty construction industries.