In article ,
Tom Anderson wrote:
On Wed, 11 Feb 2004, John Haines wrote:

In article ,
umpston wrote:
John Haines wrote in message
...

Don't get me started about the glass.

Glad to hear there is nothing wrong with the glass (sorry if I'm
getting you started)

Glass - yes you have got me started.

To summarise, there are two basic types of safety glass, laminated
and toughened.

Could one not have used some sort of plastic?

Sorry if this is a stupid question.

We didn't look at plastic in any detail but these are the sort of
reasons why glass is still widely used.

Most plastic is much less resistant to surface abrasion, it would go
cloudy.
There would be the same problems of load transfer as laminated glass -
yes, it would be lighter but not enough to avoid serious injury if a 2m
x 3.3m sheet hit you.
There would probably be a problem with ageing under natural light.
A certain amount of strength and rigidity is required, glass is more
rigid than plastic.
A plastic which would overcome these problems sufficiently
(polycarbonate?) would probably be more expensive than glass.

John Haines