St. Petersburg Times
Online: March Madness
 tampabay.com

The University of South Florida is providing the basketball floor for the NCAA Tournament’s first- and second-round games at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa.

The flooring was transported by truck from the Sun Dome to the Forum and was installed over the ice used by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The ice will remain frozen beneath the wooden floor but will be separated by a thick layer of insulation that will keep the wood dry and warm.

From ice to wood in 90 minutes
A crew of 27 people will take just 90 minutes to assemble the portable
17,000- square-foot cherry wood floor that will cover the ice.
1. Assembly begins by laying insulation sheets over the ice. Each sheet measures 5 feet by 8 feet by 1 inch thick and is made of polycarbonate and fiberglass. This provides a high value of insulation. 2. The wood flooring is laid on top of the insulation. Each piece, measuring 4 feet by 8 feet by 3 inches thick, has a cross-beam structure underneath to add cushion to the floor. 3. Each piece is fitted to the adjacent piece with interlocking finger joints at the panel ends and with a tongue and groove fit at the sides to allow perfect allignment. Each row is staggered to give extra stability across the floor.
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