NIOSH Supply Chain Project: Football Stadium – Commercial Accelerated

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Virginia Tech. Center for Innovation in Construction Safety, Health, and Well-being
• Description:
  Overview: The project involved in this case study was the expansion of a university football stadium. The existing stadium was to be upgraded from the then-current seating capacity of 15,000 for both football games and university functions such as graduation. The stadium had not been upgraded in over 25 years and the university had been adding temporary seating to accommodate guests during homecoming and family weekend football games. The master plan for stadium expansion was to increase seating capacity to 35,000. Part of the expansion was to have a new press box and luxury seating. The sales of the luxury suites for future football games would partially fund the project. Behind the east stands was an aquatic center that precluded expanding on that side without removing the aquatic center. While the university's master plan had provisions for a new aquatic center, it was not planned to be built for another ten years. Thus a decision was made to expand the west stands first. There was a parking deck very close behind the west stands. This precluded building a single deck structure out into that area. A double deck structure was chosen to accommodate the parking structure behind it and also because it would offer spectators a better view of the field. Relocating the football team for one season was not an option for the university, so it was crucial to be able to schedule around the football seasons. The contractor who ultimately won the bid proposed an accelerated construction schedule that would take place in two phases with a football season in between. For the first phase, the existing concrete stands on the west side were demolished and new steel stands were constructed in time for the next football season. Context: The decision to expand the stadium was influenced by high attendance for football games and usage of the facility for events such as graduation and parent's weekend. The stadium had seating capacity for 12,500 people, and temporary seating had to be used if attendance surpassed the facility's capacity. The university decided to expand the west stands first since the aquatic center behind the east stands would need to be demolished before expansion of the stands. There was a parking structure located behind the west stands, which influenced the decision to make the stands as two stacked decks. Another issue the project team faced was working with the football schedule. The amount of time the construction would take meant displacing the football team for one season, which was not an option for the athletics department. Objectives: The contractor who won the bid addressed the scheduling issue with the football team by splitting the construction into two phases. The first phase would start immediately after the end of a football season with the demolition of the old concrete stands and the construction of the lower deck before the start of the next season. During that football season, the lower deck would be available for fan seating. After the end of that season, the second phase of construction would begin. The second phase included the construction of the upper deck, press box, and luxury suite seating. The second phase would be completed before the start of the next football season. The presence of the parking structure behind the west stands led to the decision to use a cantilever structure for the new stands. Having two separate decks also had the benefit of offering fans a better view of the field. A micropile foundation for the stands was used in order to maintain the structural integrity of the garage's foundation. The presence of underground utilities was addressed by pot-holing to determine the exact positions of the utilities. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Case Reports Construction Industry Engineering Hazardous Substances Occupational Health Safety Shift Work Schedule
• Keywords:
  Case Studies Construction Equipment Construction Industry Engineering Controls Falls Hazard Controls Occupational Safety And Health Shift Work
• Publisher:
  Innovation Center for Construction Safety and Health at Virginia Tech
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Case Studies
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-19
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20062019
• Citation:
  Blacksburg, VA: Innovation Center for Construction Safety and Health at Virginia Tech, 2015 May; :1-19
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20090901
• Source Full Name:
  NIOSH supply chain project: football stadium - commercial accelerated
• End Date:
  20150131
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6b919e5c6d1f0565d358b7e65fea8bbaff151b706fccd83bf5e98e2a1af9741916ea70f6cc6d9ca3737a913dddbf9d1fc17e9023973e67ddc296691de6a48731
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/225345/cdc_225345_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 563.97 KB ]