Barely a week after it was inflated "with much fanfare", a giant industrial dome has quite literally had the wind knocked out of it.
The 42-metre fabric "dome silo" was inflated at Port Adelaide last week as the "cornerstone" of a planned cement storage and distribution site on the waterfront.
But on Thursday the structure burst and collapsed after suffering damage amid windy conditions, manufacturing company Hallett Group said.
Workers were onsite at the time, but no-one was hurt in the incident, which left debris strewn across the site.
"There was construction activity occurring within the dome at that time, and it is a windy day, so a small issue with the wind quickly turned into a big issue," Hallett Group CEO Kane Salisbury told ABC Radio Adelaide's Sonya Feldhoff.
"'[There was] a little bit of noise.
"Effectively, a little bit like a balloon, it just sort of peeled apart and came down unfortunately a lot quicker than it went up."
Ms Salisbury said the dome "went up with much fanfare last week" to allow for the construction of a 19,000-tonne steel and concrete facility which, once complete, will have the capacity to store 52,000 tonnes of cement.
"What happened, we're not sure, but it happened instantly. There was a failure in the outer skin," he said.
"It released quite quickly and just sort of came down around the people who were working inside."
Mr Salisbury said SafeWork SA had been at the site to inspect the damage, and the company would work with manufacturers to determine the cause of the collapse.
Despite the debris and damage, the Hallett Group said "early feedback" from manufacturers indicated the dome could potentially be repaired.
"It's not going to magically reinflate tomorrow or next week, it's certainly an extensive repair required," he said.
"We've got the outer skin manufacturers, they're flying people in from Canada right now and we need to wait until they get here and give them an opportunity to assess their product."
The dome skin remains attached to the concrete foundation but part of it is hanging over a fence.
The company said it was a "really disappointing day", but it would persevere with work on the distribution hub for low-carbon cement products manufactured in Port Augusta in the state's north.
