This stadium is truly one of the most watched construction projects in the country right now. I am psyched about the progress and can't wait for it to open.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0621stadium21.html
Cards Stadium takes shape as roof set to go
Pat Flannery
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 21, 2004 12:00 AM
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]With nearly a year of its three-year construction life behind it, Glendale's Cardinals Stadium is speeding toward a handful of construction milestones that are finally conspiring to make the project look like a professional football venue.
With international sports architects keeping an eye on the development of its various unique features - from the huge retractable roof to the rolling field to the stylized "barrel cactus" exterior - this is a project whose every step will be monitored until the first ball carrier crashes through the line of scrimmage. And the next 30 days will move the Valley discernibly closer to that moment.
"It's exciting for a lot of reasons," said Kenny Harris, vice president for facilities of the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority. "But for local folks, they need to know that we're right on schedule and right on budget. It's one-third down, two-thirds to go; it's like getting a big first down."
July 29 marks the first anniversary of construction on the $370.6 million project. The first several of what will become weekly deliveries of giant steel trusses have been made, signaling the impending start of the roof-building process. The elaborately choreographed production climaxes next February, when the entire 6,200-ton assembly is hoisted from the stadium floor to a roost 171 feet overhead.
On July 8, meanwhile, workers start setting precast concrete seating platforms on stair-stepped rakers high in the northeastern quadrant of the stadium's upper bowl, a process that will further define the stadium to passers-by on the Loop 101 near Glendale Avenue.
Although still two years from completion, the stadium recently saw workers reach the highest point of its outer edge, known as the "ring beam," on the northeastern side, an event considered by project managers to be a turning point.
"We've reached the top," Harris said. "That really represents a milestone of sorts."
By the middle of next month, workers will have started building a temporary foundation on the stadium floor to support the steel roof trusses that will be assembled.
Hunt Construction Group construction manager Charlie Prewitt said the weekly delivery of preassembled, 20-by-20-foot sections of roof trussing will culminate in mid-August with the start of assembly of the giant Brunel trusses that will bear most of the weight of the stadium's retractable roof panels.
As the steel sections are joined at field level, held in place by the temporary foundation, work will continue around the trusses on the rest of the stadium. On Feb. 20, the two finished Brunel trusses - each 700 feet long, 88 feet high at the tallest point and weighing 1,800 tons - will be linked together by smaller trusses and roof panels.
Then Mammoet, a Dutch company specializing in ultra-heavy construction lifts, will use eight strand jacks, which use bundles of steel cable to hoist heavy loads, to lift the trusses into place atop four giant concrete columns.
The mammoth assembly will rise 18 inches at a time and 35 feet an hour, stopping at intervals to ensure it is level and moving smoothly. Once the structure is in place, the rest of the roof can be closed in, allowing interior work to get going.
Already, workers have begun building walls to close in the lower part of the northern half of the stadium, although the structure of the southern half isn't yet finished. In addition, workers have started the plumbing and duct work on the northern half.
"We're really been waiting for this," Harris said. "The workforce will start to ramp up . . . and we're having a little boom on the site."
Once the roof trusses are in place, the number of daily workers at the site will peak, tripling from the current 400.
Reach the reporter at [email protected] or (602) 444-8629.
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0621stadium21.html
Cards Stadium takes shape as roof set to go
Pat Flannery
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 21, 2004 12:00 AM
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]With nearly a year of its three-year construction life behind it, Glendale's Cardinals Stadium is speeding toward a handful of construction milestones that are finally conspiring to make the project look like a professional football venue.
With international sports architects keeping an eye on the development of its various unique features - from the huge retractable roof to the rolling field to the stylized "barrel cactus" exterior - this is a project whose every step will be monitored until the first ball carrier crashes through the line of scrimmage. And the next 30 days will move the Valley discernibly closer to that moment.
"It's exciting for a lot of reasons," said Kenny Harris, vice president for facilities of the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority. "But for local folks, they need to know that we're right on schedule and right on budget. It's one-third down, two-thirds to go; it's like getting a big first down."
July 29 marks the first anniversary of construction on the $370.6 million project. The first several of what will become weekly deliveries of giant steel trusses have been made, signaling the impending start of the roof-building process. The elaborately choreographed production climaxes next February, when the entire 6,200-ton assembly is hoisted from the stadium floor to a roost 171 feet overhead.
On July 8, meanwhile, workers start setting precast concrete seating platforms on stair-stepped rakers high in the northeastern quadrant of the stadium's upper bowl, a process that will further define the stadium to passers-by on the Loop 101 near Glendale Avenue.
Although still two years from completion, the stadium recently saw workers reach the highest point of its outer edge, known as the "ring beam," on the northeastern side, an event considered by project managers to be a turning point.
"We've reached the top," Harris said. "That really represents a milestone of sorts."
By the middle of next month, workers will have started building a temporary foundation on the stadium floor to support the steel roof trusses that will be assembled.
Hunt Construction Group construction manager Charlie Prewitt said the weekly delivery of preassembled, 20-by-20-foot sections of roof trussing will culminate in mid-August with the start of assembly of the giant Brunel trusses that will bear most of the weight of the stadium's retractable roof panels.
As the steel sections are joined at field level, held in place by the temporary foundation, work will continue around the trusses on the rest of the stadium. On Feb. 20, the two finished Brunel trusses - each 700 feet long, 88 feet high at the tallest point and weighing 1,800 tons - will be linked together by smaller trusses and roof panels.
Then Mammoet, a Dutch company specializing in ultra-heavy construction lifts, will use eight strand jacks, which use bundles of steel cable to hoist heavy loads, to lift the trusses into place atop four giant concrete columns.
The mammoth assembly will rise 18 inches at a time and 35 feet an hour, stopping at intervals to ensure it is level and moving smoothly. Once the structure is in place, the rest of the roof can be closed in, allowing interior work to get going.
Already, workers have begun building walls to close in the lower part of the northern half of the stadium, although the structure of the southern half isn't yet finished. In addition, workers have started the plumbing and duct work on the northern half.
"We're really been waiting for this," Harris said. "The workforce will start to ramp up . . . and we're having a little boom on the site."
Once the roof trusses are in place, the number of daily workers at the site will peak, tripling from the current 400.
Reach the reporter at [email protected] or (602) 444-8629.
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![6-2-04-Club-level-seating-t[1].jpg](/forum/data/attachments/3/3018-e728b90d93ae9830cce6460d24241cf4.jpg)
