stadiums Soccer in the

RBy steve whitesellockies

An elegant, sloping canopy soars above ’s new soccer stadium, while buckling-restrained braces protect it from seismic forces from below.

As the popularity of associa- utes from downtown Salt Lake City. The tion football—soccer, to us 20,000-seat venue will also accommodate Americans—grows in this country, pro- youth and college sports, community festi- fessional teams are making the move from vals, concerts, and other events. being long-term house guests at NFL or The team’s owner, , was college stadiums to occupying their own very interested in having the team be able Asoccer-specific venues. to practice and finish up its 2008 season The latest (MLS) in its new home, and pushed an aggres- team to make such a move is . sive 17-month construction schedule with For years, the team played in Rice-Eccles the design and construction team. It was Stadium at the University of in Salt an even more successful endeavor than Lake City, but ultimately, the team’s owner expected; the stadium hosted its debut soc- wanted a dedicated soccer venue for the cer event in October, nine months ahead of team and the city. The result is Rio Tinto the original build-out schedule. Stadium in Sandy Lake, Utah, just 15 min- Photo: december 2008 MODERN STEEL CONSTRUCTION into S tadium Photos: R io T

Roof framing before canopy installation. Erection of the canopy framing.

Multi-Jointed Collaboration 12-week rolling cycle, enabling the team to several design options were discussed, a Facilitating the accelerated schedule not only stay on budget, but also improve geometric steel frame design with tension was general contractor Turner Construc- the schedule. Opening nine months early fabric was selected to meet both the design tion’s (in a joint venture with Layton Con- not only allowed the team to finish out the criteria and engineering requirements of struction) prior experience with another season in its new facility, but also avoided the sloped canopy. MLS stadium, for the in costly winter construction. Working with the project’s structural . For both projects, Turner used a Of the total original design budget, engineer, John A. Martin Associates, the design-build consortium, which for the the structural engineering and fabrication LPR/StarGroup joint venture was able to Rio Tinto Stadium project included an costs were reduced by 9.1%, saving well order materials before the snow study was erection and fabrication joint venture over $1 million. Of this amount, nearly complete. In essence, the team was able to between erector LPR Construction and $250,000 was related to the incorpora- develop a lighter structure with better load buckling-restrained brace (BRB) manufac- tion of Star Seismic’s WildCat BRBs. By paths to reduce the total steel costs at a turer Star Seismic. (Star Seismic’s patented using 191 WildCat braces in all, the LPR/ time when material costs were high. BRB designs incorporate pinned or welded StarGroup was able to reduce brace con- connections, radiused copes, material con- nections by 90% and allow the engineer to sistency, and higher capacity systems to use smaller beams and columns. According deliver maximum structural survivability to Star Seismic principal Argan Johnson, while using less steel, welding, and crane using a BRB system replaced the eccen- time in the erection process. They also tric braced frame system, which allowed exceed all AISC provisions, and indepen- the team to save on materials, fabrication, dent analysis shows that incorporating welding, and bolting. In sum, 162,000 BRBs reduces building costs by up $2.40 cubic yards of earth was removed, 5,000 per square foot.) cubic yards of concrete was poured, and This collaborative effort was made pos- 720 tons of steel was managed. sible by the understanding of Gene Fatur, Turner’s executive project manager, that Wind and Snow specific steel management and fabrica- One of the key architectural elements tion excellence would pay dividends to the of the stadium is a sloping fabric canopy owner. Working in concert, the LPR-Star- whose white steel framing and fabric cap- Group and Layton-Turner ventures used ture the essence of the surrounding snowy the expertise of structural engineer John A. peaks. The canopy was designed to gar- Martin and Associates to meet the architec- ner attention from afar, and the round tural vision—and bring it to fruition well curved beams at the canopy edges intend ahead of schedule. to resemble a “smooth sky trail on a snowy The primary objective for this joint mountain top.” venture was to procure the structural steel Because the Salt Lake area receives in advance, thereby avoiding costly steel almost 5 ft of precipitation and multiple material increases during the design pro- winter storms every year, the canopy had cess, and work in conjunction with the to withstand several forces simultane- design team to implement the shapes into ously and drain effectively. Layton-Turner the design. A mill order was placed when worked with wind engineering consultant the design development was only 50% RWDI (Guelph, Ontario, Canada) regard- complete, and was updated throughout the ing wind and snowfall analysis. While

MODERN STEEL CONSTRUCTION december 2008 An aggressive construction schedule

allowed Rio Tinto Stadium to open nine into S tadium months early. R io T

Steve Whitesell is president of the Whitesell Group, a public relations firm in Park City, Utah.

Architect , Los Angeles Structural Engineer John A. Martin Associates, Los Angeles Steel Fabricator Baer Welding, Inc., Providence, Utah Scoring with the Fans (AISC Member) Rio Tinto Stadium can seat 20,008 for soccer games, but for concerts, festivals, Steel Erector and community events, can accommodate up to 25,000. With a total of four levels, LPR Construction, Loveland. Colo. the stadium contains locker rooms, utility services, team offices, 32 private luxury (AISC Member) suites, a presidential suite, a press lounge and press box, camera stations, and mechanical rooms. Buckling-Restrained Brace Supplier The state-of-the-art audio/visual system includes a 40-ft by 22-ft scoreboard Star Seismic, LLC, Park City, Utah and a crystal-clear sound and paging system. To enhance the fan experience, the (AISC Member) first row of seating is only 2 ft above the playing field, putting the fans as close as General Contractor possible to the excitement. The natural grass turf and drainage system allows for Turner Construction and Layton year-round use, even at an elevation of 4,450 ft. Construction (a joint venture), Salt Lake Rio Tinto Stadium is situated in a north-south direction, replicating the align- City ment of the Rocky Mountains just a few miles to the east. The stadium’s placement has left room for commercial development just to the north that will include a hotel, a water park, restaurants, and retail space.

december 2008 MODERN STEEL CONSTRUCTION