Seagull's New Nest
01/03/2010
A spectacular steel arched roof will top Brighton & Hove Albion’s new football stadium. Martin Cooper reports from a construction project 13 years in the making.
When Brighton & Hove Albion kicks off next year’s football season in its new 22,500 seater stadium it will mark the end of one of the longest running sagas in English football.
Since vacating the Goldstone Ground in 1997, the Seagulls have battled to settle in a new home. It was not until 2008 − following two public inquiries − that planning permission for the club’s preferred site in Falmer was finally given.
Seagulls fans have proved to be resilient. Following the sale of the Goldstone Ground the club suffered the indignity of very nearly being relegated from the Football League and then having to ground-share for two seasons with Gillingham, Kent − a fortnightly round trip of 240km for players and fans. The club finally returned to Brighton in 1999 when it took up “temporary” residence in the Withdean Athletics Stadium, a roof-less, wind-swept bowl, not entirely suited to league football. Brighton & Hove Albion chief executive Martin Perry describes the construction of the new stadium as a dream finally being turned into reality. “We’ve fought long and hard for this project and now we can see the stadium rising up on the site. There have been a few false starts along the way but now we can definitely plan ahead for life in our new home,” he says.
Before the Seagulls do kickoff the new season in their new home, a lot of construction work has to be completed. Situated alongside the A27 − 6km from Brighton city centre and conveniently next to an existing railway station − the site not only has a serious slope but also a large chalk hill running across it. One of the initial tasks main contractor Buckingham had to perform when it started on site last April was to begin a large earthmoving operation, to level some of the site and enable access roads to be constructed. Earthmoving is ongoing and involves the removal of some 140,000m3 of chalk. “We have a large cut and fill operation, whereby all overburden is removed to an adjacent council owned site,” says Buckingham project manager Duncan Halliday. “This obviously keeps trucks off of the local roads.”
There is also some demolition work to undertake, as six vacated buildings belonging to the University of Sussex and located on top of the chalk ridge, are to be removed. As the site has been progressively levelled, structural works on the east and north stands have begun. The east stand will be the stadium’s second largest with two internal floors and one tier of terraced seating. The north stand − which will house away supporters − is positioned behind one of the goalmouths and incorporates a single tier of seating. Watson Steel Structures began its 12-month programme last July and will erect 4,200t of structural steelwork for the project. The four stands consist of traditional steel rakers supporting precast concrete terrace units, behind which the main structure housing concourses, toilets and shops, is erected with steel beams and columns.
Steelwork also provides the signature element of the project − the roof. It will be an undulating and sloping structure designed to reflect the local South Downs. To achieve this two large trusses will span either side of the stadium, above the west and east stands, supporting this roof. The smaller north and south stands will have more conventional cantilever roofs, but all four sides will be interconnected and this will mean temporary works will have to remain in place until the entire roof structure is completed in July.
Trusses and trestles. “The trusses support the roofs over the two main stands,” explains Watson contracts manager Peter Riley. “But tying the whole roof structure together is a ring of steel that passes around the back of entire stadium. Until the whole roof steelwork is up, we have to install, and then keep in place, temporary support towers [trestles].”
The truss over the east stand was delivered to site before Christmas. It measures 170m long and arrived piece meal and is being assembled into three liftable sections on the pitch. Holding the truss in position at either end will be two enormous, heavily reinforced concrete thrust walls, which have been partially buried into the ground. Cast-in plates connected to steel bearings, weighing 7t each and designed to resist a thrust of 20,000kN (2,000t), connect to either end of the steel truss. The sequence for the truss erection will start with the 60m long by 19m high by 12m wide southern section. Once in position this 120t section will be supported by one of two temporary trestles. The 55m long, by 13m high by 12m wide middle section is then lifted into place and bolted to the first section and again supported on a temporary trestle. The final piece of the truss jigsaw will see the northern section, which is a similar size to the southern section, lifted and bolted into place.
Temporary restraints are also required at both bearing locations to stop the truss literally lifting off before the entire structure is in place. Once the truss is fully erected, Watson will then install the roof steelwork which connects to the back of the stand, as well as cantilevering rafters which form the front of the roof structure. Once the underslung lighting gantries are in place the entire east stand roof steelwork will total 675t.
Earthmoving and chalk removal continues on site and once complete a similar procedure will be conducted to install the roof over the largest stand − the three tiered west stand. “The west arch roof truss will be similar in many respects,” says Riley. “But different in that it supports a larger area and will therefore be heavier.”
The entire steelwork package is scheduled for completion in July, with overall construction completion due in May 2011. This is three months before the 2011/12 football season with the only remaining question being: which division will Brighton & Hove Albion be in then?
Source: NCE 11/02/10 click here to view this article on their website
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