City of Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis and City Commissioners dedicated the construction of the world’s first precast 27-meter dive tower on Thursday, July 1 at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center, located at 501 Seabreeze Boulevard.
This is another of many firsts for the City of Fort Lauderdale, having built the first Olympic-Sized swimming pool in the state of Florida in 1928, followed by the iconic Swimming Hall of Fame in 1965.
“Fort Lauderdale reached another milestone today as we will once again retain our position atop the worlds of swimming and diving. Excitement was in the air as we held the dedication ceremony for the 27-meter dive tower at the Aquatic Center and watched that last piece of concrete get hoisted into place,” said Commissioner Steve Glassman.
The 27-meter dive tower includes nine platform levels and combines springboard (one-meter, three-meter), platform diving (one-meter, three-meter, five-meter, seven-point-five-meter, 10-meter) and high diving (15-meter, 20-meter, 24-meter and 27-meter).
The design-build construction team is led by Hensel Phelps Construction Company. The tower is constructed of 96 precast concrete panels, and rests on a foundation five-feet deep and 53-feet wide, supported by 35 augercast piles at a depth of 60-feet. There are 162 stairs to the top of the tower.
While there is a long history of high diving feats, the sport was first recognized as the sixth aquatic discipline in 2014 by Federation International de Natation (FINA), the world’s international governing body. At a height of 27-meters, a diver can reach speeds up to 60 mph in 3 seconds.
The Aquatic Center is scheduled for substantial completion in September 2022. Due to the site being an active construction area, the ceremony is by invitation only and not open to the public.
