Formwork demands in stadium and sports facility construction can be extremely challenging. Complex geometrical and static requirements, often coupled with a short construction period, frequently make these projects quite difficult.
Greenpoint Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa
For the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa, four stadiums were built or extended with the help of PERI Formwork Systems Inc., Elkridge, Md., formwork and scaffolding systems, including the 70,000-capacity Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town. During the construction phase, the manufacturer’s authorized dealer in South Africa, Wiehan, handled project support and rental logistics.
Presented below are four current examples of stadium building that used reinforced concrete and precast concrete construction. For each of the structures, PERI engineers developed project-specific overall concepts for a broad range of construction tasks.
National Stadium, Warsaw, Poland
The new Warsaw national stadium, which will host the 2012 European Football Championship, has seating for more than 55,000 spectators, as well as two underground parking levels for 1800 cars. Construction work began in 2009. The complex building project had high-quality requirements that demanded an experienced construction team along with close and trustful cooperation of all parties involved. Maintaining the tight construction schedule meant large quantities of system equipment had to be delivered to the site within a short time; a PERI rental park fulfilled this obligation, with manufacturer engineers also on hand to supervise.
The TRIO and DOMINO panel formwork systems were used for the foundations and wall sections, facilitating fast formwork setup times. MULTIFLEX slab formwork in conjunction with PEP and MULTIPROP slab props served a load-bearing role for the construction of the massive and cavity slabs as well as assembly of the partially prefabricated slabs. To form the reinforced concrete columns, QUATTRO and VARIO GT 24 column formwork systems were combined. To satisfy increased architectural concrete requirements, the systems were preassembled at a formwork assembly facility. The comprehensive concept was supplemented by the PERI UP scaffolding system, which proved its versatility in providing access means, working platforms, and a load-bearing system.
Mercedes-Benz Arena, Stuttgart, Germany
The Mercedes-Benz Arena currently is being converted into a pure football stadium. Through the lowering of the pitch by 1.3 meters along with a new design for the two fan sections at either end of the arena, the capacity is being extended to 60,000 spectators. In addition, the opening of the membrane roofing has been reduced in size.
For the partially inclined walls, TRIO panel formwork, TRIO Structure, and VARIO GT 24 girder wall formwork are being used. PERI UP reinforcement scaffold serves as access means for all work required to be carried out on the formwork.
Column formwork elements were preassembled at an assembly hall. The Stuttgart, Germany-based BAM Deutschland AG construction team has achieved the best possible concrete surface results with the inclined supports, closely matching the visual appearance of the prefabricated units also being installed.
Ratiopharm Arena, Neu-Ulm, Germany
Neumarkt, Germany-based contractor Max Bögl will be the future operator of the new Ratiopharm Arena in Neu-Ulm, Germany. As of December 2011, the multifunctional hall will accommodate up to 6000 spectators for home games of the Ulm Bundesliga basketball team. The arena also will be used for cultural events with 9000 spectators in attendance.
For the turnkey construction using prefabricated elements, the Bögl construction team has used the MULTIPROP system. For transferring loads at heights up to 13 meters, lightweight aluminum MULTIPROP slab props are connected with MULTIPROP frames to form shoring towers. The modular, load-bearing system can be adapted to suit individual project conditions and is easy to handle. Preassembly of the shoring towers was carried out horizontally on the ground, with the lightweight individual components and wedge connections on both the outer and inner tubes accelerating the assembly process.
In addition, the MULTIPROP post shores can be used onsite as individual props to achieve a larger range of heights. Compared to steel tube props, the MULTIPROP has a lower weight and a load-bearing capacity of up to 90 kilonewtons. Due to the continuous thread, it is usable for a large range of heights and can be adjusted accurately by means of an integrated measuring tape, eliminating the need for time-consuming measurements.
Grand Ice Rink, Sochi, Russia
The roof construction of the new ice arena in Sochi, which will host the 2014 Winter Olympics, is supported by a total of 17 steel girders, each one up to 12 meters high. These bridge the complete 94-meter stadium width and have a spacing of 7x7.5 meters. Two free-standing, 37.5-meter-high shoring tower frames from the VARIOKIT heavy-duty shoring system serve as an assembly support in the respective one-third and two-thirds of the length. The girders—with individual lengths of 2x28 meters and 1x38 meters—are preassembled on the ground inside the stadium itself. They are subsequently lifted up to their final position with a crane and connected to each other at a height of 40 meters. The individual girder elements have a weight of up to 30 tons.
Two or three supporting shoring towers respectively with a 2x7.25-meter basic grid dimensions were connected at 5-meter spacings by means of standard SRU steel walers and ties to form stable, free-standing shoring tower sections. These could be moved according to the construction progress in a longitudinal direction to the next segment. Assembly of the VARIOKIT heavy-duty shoring towers was carried out horizontally on the ground using 10-meter sections. After this, they were set in an upright position with a crane and extended to the final height of 37.5 meters.
The dead weight of the roof steel girders resulted in point loads of 300 kilonewtons for each of the five shoring towers, which meant leg loads of “only” 75 kilonewtons. The manufacturer’s solution with the free-standing VST towers nevertheless proved to be the most cost-effective variant because conventional modular scaffolding systems at such large heights would have be to be erected as spatial load-carrying constructions—an extremely time-consuming process.
