Aided by a cherry picker and a crane, construction workers began yesterday to install the first sections of a large fabric roof on the west side of the Columbus Center.

The $160 million marine research and exhibit center is under construction on Inner Harbor Piers 5 and 6.

In all, four outer sheets and four inner sheets of material are being attached to lozenge-shaped skylights that were recently put in place high above wharf level.

The sheets are being stretched over a steel frame to enclose a five-story-high atrium that will contain public exhibits, training facilities and a Center for Marine Archaeology.

The roof panel installed yesterday, which required 20 people to secure, measures 120 by 100 feet and weighs 2,100 pounds.

All eight panels are scheduled to be installed by late June, and their beige color is expected to bleach to white during the next several months.

Birdair of Amherst, N.Y., is fabricating and installing the roof, following the design of Zeidler Roberts Partnership of Torontn.

BTC The installation is one of the first examples in Maryland of a roof made of Teflon-impregnated fiberglass, a material that is expected to last 40 years, according to the contractors.