World's deepest indoor pool
March 22, 2007 8:52 PM Subscribe
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- frimble
I am totally going to go see that this summer. Great post!
posted by phrontist at 9:03 PM on March 22, 2007
posted by phrontist at 9:03 PM on March 22, 2007
...That is just plain too cool. Do they allow people to just dive in equipped with nothing but a swimsuit (and a lifeguard, of course) or is it scuba-exclusive?
posted by wanderingmind at 9:06 PM on March 22, 2007
posted by wanderingmind at 9:06 PM on March 22, 2007
Eat & Drink at Nemo 33...
Who ?
Employees who seeks a wind of exoticism at lunch time
Epicureans in the search of new tastes
Divers after an adventure at -33m
Visitors who join a group
A club bringing together his members
A single person who wants to find friends
Count.....me.....in!!!
posted by longsleeves at 9:10 PM on March 22, 2007
Who ?
Employees who seeks a wind of exoticism at lunch time
Epicureans in the search of new tastes
Divers after an adventure at -33m
Visitors who join a group
A club bringing together his members
A single person who wants to find friends
Count.....me.....in!!!
posted by longsleeves at 9:10 PM on March 22, 2007
Someday, future MeFites will be posting stories about the strange holes found in Belgium. No one will remember how they got there or what their original purpose was. This pool is a mystery in the making.
posted by inconsequentialist at 9:18 PM on March 22, 2007 [4 favorites]
posted by inconsequentialist at 9:18 PM on March 22, 2007 [4 favorites]
Now: set it up for lasertag.
posted by thecaddy at 9:26 PM on March 22, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by thecaddy at 9:26 PM on March 22, 2007 [1 favorite]
Fascinating. But for people who get a bit panicky around beaches, lakes, and other such water places, this is a nightmare waiting to happen.
But it really is fascinating. Wonder why it hasn't been done before? If I was a swimmer/diver/etc, this would be like, the ultimate man-made indoor pool, right?
posted by davidmsc at 9:32 PM on March 22, 2007
But it really is fascinating. Wonder why it hasn't been done before? If I was a swimmer/diver/etc, this would be like, the ultimate man-made indoor pool, right?
posted by davidmsc at 9:32 PM on March 22, 2007
I know I've played that level -- what first-person-shooter is it from?
posted by dhartung at 9:51 PM on March 22, 2007
posted by dhartung at 9:51 PM on March 22, 2007
This is right out of that stage in Half Life 1 where you need to get through a half-submerged barrier while an exposed electric cable blocks an above-water hole so you can't jump through it, and the only option is to swim for a door just under the waterline while two of those scary shark-eel things are swimming around.
posted by brownpau at 10:05 PM on March 22, 2007
posted by brownpau at 10:05 PM on March 22, 2007
I guess that's ok for instruction, but as far as I'm concerned, the point of scuba diving is the fish. I'd rather go here.
posted by muckster at 10:41 PM on March 22, 2007
posted by muckster at 10:41 PM on March 22, 2007
HOLY CARP! I've had nightmares dreams about that pool!
(I love swimming, but the dreams about infinitely deep pools always give me the willies.)
posted by grapefruitmoon at 10:53 PM on March 22, 2007
(I love swimming, but the dreams about infinitely deep pools always give me the willies.)
posted by grapefruitmoon at 10:53 PM on March 22, 2007
This is in Belgium, right? So it's full of Chimay, right?
Mmmmmmm....!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:00 AM on March 23, 2007
Mmmmmmm....!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:00 AM on March 23, 2007
wanderingmind : looks like the picture on the far right of the second row is a diver without scuba ... possibly a freediver?
posted by kaemaril at 3:02 AM on March 23, 2007
posted by kaemaril at 3:02 AM on March 23, 2007
There is no decompression chamber listed, so I am wondering how long it will take for someone to make a booboo - other than that, I am making a detour to get to this in the coming months.
My other question is how this was built. How thick does the concrete need to be at 90 feet to support this?
Thanks for sharing this....
posted by fluffycreature at 3:57 AM on March 23, 2007
Almost as good as the missile silo, but not quite 33m.....
posted by pax digita at 4:47 AM on March 23, 2007
posted by pax digita at 4:47 AM on March 23, 2007
Eat & Drink at Nemo 33...
But do you have to swim to the bottom to get to the restaurant? Because that would be cool. You dive down to the bottom of the pool, swim through a passage, and emerge in a room 33 meters down, pressurized to keep the water from welling up in it. You remove your gear and what have you, towel off, and enter the dining room proper, where you're seated. Everything you order is put on a tab against a pre-authorized credit card, and you bill is paid once you're back topside.
Then again, I was never good enough at pressures to know what that would do to one's dining experience, or the food preparation.
posted by Eideteker at 4:49 AM on March 23, 2007
But do you have to swim to the bottom to get to the restaurant? Because that would be cool. You dive down to the bottom of the pool, swim through a passage, and emerge in a room 33 meters down, pressurized to keep the water from welling up in it. You remove your gear and what have you, towel off, and enter the dining room proper, where you're seated. Everything you order is put on a tab against a pre-authorized credit card, and you bill is paid once you're back topside.
Then again, I was never good enough at pressures to know what that would do to one's dining experience, or the food preparation.
posted by Eideteker at 4:49 AM on March 23, 2007
But do you have to swim to the bottom to get to the restaurant? Because that would be cool.
Or -- if you're both claustrophobic and afraid of deep water, like I am -- an inspiration for a screaming panic attack. I got tense just looking at the photos. Add that I would have to take a plane to get there, and woo! It's the perfect trifecta!
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:32 AM on March 23, 2007 [1 favorite]
Or -- if you're both claustrophobic and afraid of deep water, like I am -- an inspiration for a screaming panic attack. I got tense just looking at the photos. Add that I would have to take a plane to get there, and woo! It's the perfect trifecta!
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:32 AM on March 23, 2007 [1 favorite]
Then again, I was never good enough at pressures to know what that would do to one's dining experience, or the food preparation.
Look at a box of cake mix -- they have high-altitude instructions for baking. The lower the air pressure, the lower the boiling point of liquids.
Anecdote from aboard a WW II submarine: The ship's cooks were trying to bake bread one morning while the skipper had the boat doing practice dives, and whenever the boat readies for a dive, the crew seals all hatches and puts "pressure in the boat" -- increasing the air pressure throughout all the sailor-populated internal spaces to slightly greater than the typical ambient atmosphere at sea level, testing watertight integrity. On surfacing, this increased pressure vents suddenly when somebody opens a hatch for the bridge crew to emerge.
After the second batch of bread loaves were ruined when the sudden pressure change made them "fall" (go flat), one of the messmen passed word forward to the control room to have an officer let him know when they were finished the submerging-and-surfacing cycles for a while so the galley (the sub's kitchen) could complete the day's baking.
posted by pax digita at 7:22 AM on March 23, 2007
Look at a box of cake mix -- they have high-altitude instructions for baking. The lower the air pressure, the lower the boiling point of liquids.
Anecdote from aboard a WW II submarine: The ship's cooks were trying to bake bread one morning while the skipper had the boat doing practice dives, and whenever the boat readies for a dive, the crew seals all hatches and puts "pressure in the boat" -- increasing the air pressure throughout all the sailor-populated internal spaces to slightly greater than the typical ambient atmosphere at sea level, testing watertight integrity. On surfacing, this increased pressure vents suddenly when somebody opens a hatch for the bridge crew to emerge.
After the second batch of bread loaves were ruined when the sudden pressure change made them "fall" (go flat), one of the messmen passed word forward to the control room to have an officer let him know when they were finished the submerging-and-surfacing cycles for a while so the galley (the sub's kitchen) could complete the day's baking.
posted by pax digita at 7:22 AM on March 23, 2007
The thought of getting into that pool freaks me out 1026 more times than the Grand Canyon glass footbridge does. Seriously, I wouldn't go near that thing.
Cool post. But jesus am I in for some nightmares.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 7:31 AM on March 23, 2007
Cool post. But jesus am I in for some nightmares.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 7:31 AM on March 23, 2007
pax digita: Almost as good as the missile silo, but not quite 33m.....
Dear gods of the deep... Reading the description on that made me gasp and suck in my breath just sitting here at my desk!
posted by 1f2frfbf at 8:33 AM on March 23, 2007
Dear gods of the deep... Reading the description on that made me gasp and suck in my breath just sitting here at my desk!
posted by 1f2frfbf at 8:33 AM on March 23, 2007
fluffycreature writes "My other question is how this was built. How thick does the concrete need to be at 90 feet to support this?"
For poured in place only thick enough to hold back the earth while the thing is being built. The pressure of the earth will provide a compensating force for the pressure of the water once the pool is filled. However probably the easiest way to build this would be with precast tubular sections (like sewer castings) that are lowered into an oversize hole and then backfilled. The precast sections would only need to be thick enough to support the sections above.
Also it's probably no accident the 33m section is circularish, that arrangement puts the concrete in compression from the external forces which is what concrete excels at.
posted by Mitheral at 9:08 AM on March 23, 2007
For poured in place only thick enough to hold back the earth while the thing is being built. The pressure of the earth will provide a compensating force for the pressure of the water once the pool is filled. However probably the easiest way to build this would be with precast tubular sections (like sewer castings) that are lowered into an oversize hole and then backfilled. The precast sections would only need to be thick enough to support the sections above.
Also it's probably no accident the 33m section is circularish, that arrangement puts the concrete in compression from the external forces which is what concrete excels at.
posted by Mitheral at 9:08 AM on March 23, 2007
Diving can make you lose weight without effort. It also increases libido on a intellectual level.
That explains a lot. I have always had trouble with my overactive intellectual libido after I dive. (Only half-kidding.)
posted by nekton at 9:53 AM on March 23, 2007
That explains a lot. I have always had trouble with my overactive intellectual libido after I dive. (Only half-kidding.)
posted by nekton at 9:53 AM on March 23, 2007
Nifty. Although I'd prefer it a bit more murky.
posted by Smedleyman at 10:51 AM on March 23, 2007
posted by Smedleyman at 10:51 AM on March 23, 2007
They keep the pool at 30C which is nice and warm, good thing they are using solar collectors to heat it.
posted by Mitheral at 1:23 PM on March 23, 2007
posted by Mitheral at 1:23 PM on March 23, 2007
Smedleyman : As well as the aesthetic value, I'd imagine the 100% visibility is a handy safety feature ...
posted by kaemaril at 1:28 PM on March 23, 2007
posted by kaemaril at 1:28 PM on March 23, 2007
Yeah...but I like not being seen. 'Specially if I have my 'black lagoon' gear on. Works great coming out of water traps on golf links.
posted by Smedleyman at 3:41 PM on March 23, 2007
posted by Smedleyman at 3:41 PM on March 23, 2007
The enemy's gate is down.
posted by NortonDC at 4:34 PM on March 23, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by NortonDC at 4:34 PM on March 23, 2007 [1 favorite]
"Or -- if you're both claustrophobic and afraid of deep water, like I am -- an inspiration for a screaming panic attack."
It's also nice that a restaurant like that would have self-selecting clientele. Nothing against you or anything, but I doubt very much you'd be there in the first place to have the panic attack.
posted by Eideteker at 3:26 PM on March 24, 2007
It's also nice that a restaurant like that would have self-selecting clientele. Nothing against you or anything, but I doubt very much you'd be there in the first place to have the panic attack.
posted by Eideteker at 3:26 PM on March 24, 2007
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