All trussed up in Dunedin

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On May 16, the 390 tonne, 130m long main roof truss was lifted into place at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium (Building Today November 2009).
The lift is one of the biggest-ever in New Zealand. It took more than six hours, and involved one 400 tonne crane, two 280 tonne cranes and some 35 men.

Back on February 12, the first structural steel for construction of the stadium roof arrived in Dunedin following its fabrication in Auckland by specialist engineering firm Grayson Engineering.
That first delivery consisted of the base section of one of the roof support columns. These columns, one at either end of the South Stand, support the main truss that runs east to west along the front edge of the stand. In its turn, the truss supports the southern end of the five 105m roof arches that will span the pitch.

The columns and truss are made from steel tubing with a wall thickness of 60mm and diameter of 711mm. Each section was cut, welded and assembled by Grayson in its Auckland factory before disassembly, painting and transport.

On site, each component has been re-assembled on the future pitch, checked for alignment and then raised in place when the weather is suitable.
Over the next few months the roof structure will be completed and the ETFE roofing put in place. Pitch preparation is scheduled for early next year. Construction updates and time lapse videos can be found on Forsyth Barr Stadium’s Facebook page.

Carisbrook Stadium Trust chairman Malcolm Ferry says the steel’s arrival marks the start of a salient phase in building the new stadium at University Plaza.
“The fixed roof makes our stadium the largest indoor arena in New Zealand, and second only to Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium in the southern hemisphere,” Mr Ferry says.
“Forsyth Barr Stadium will be the world’s first to have a transparent ETFE roof over a natural playing surface. Critically, the roof removes the weather risk for event promoters and organisers.”

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