When the Oilers football team left Houston for Tennessee, some thought they’d never again enjoy a football game in their city. But Houston rebounded not only with a newly franchised team, but with a new stadium to boot.
Beers, an American subsidiary of Skanska, a Swedish company, has teamed up with Manhattan Construction Company, based in Houston, TX, to build Houston Stadium to house the 32nd team franchised by the NFL. The 2-million-square-ft. facility will also serve as the home for the renowned Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo.
The stadium design provides a seating capacity of 70,000, which makes it the largest NFL stadium to date, and the first NFL stadium with a retractable roof. The project is estimated at $348 million, and has been placed on a fast-track schedule for completion by the opening of the 2002 NFL season. The Houston Stadium is Beers’ largest project to date. The joint venture between Manhattan and Beers gives Beers 49 percent, or $170 million. The customer is the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority.
“Beers is pleased to be part of the team of experts that will build such a prestigious and unique facility,” said Joe A. Riedel, Beers chairman and CEO. “Manhattan’s local knowledge, presence and expertise, along with Beers national sports experience, make this a winning partnership.”
Beers recently completed Nashville’s Adelphia coliseum and Atlanta’s Philips Arena. Other sports projects in Beers’ extensive portfolio include Turner Field, the 1996 Centennial Olympic stadium and the Georgia Dome.
Construction on the Houston project began on March 27, with the milling and recycling of pavement in a former parking area where the stadium will eventually stand. The site is located on the west side of a parking access road that flanks the landmark Houston Astrodome. The addition of the stadium will create a mega-sports complex that also will include a new exhibition hall and a new power plant to provide air conditioning and water for all the buildings. Sempra Energy will build the power plant and Gilbane has the construction contract on the exhibit hall. New 1,000- and 2,000-car capacity parking lots have already been paved on the site to replace the parking lot taken by the stadium.
The site is a buzz of activity already. Jerry Smith, senior superintendent, Manhattan, said the tight schedule — 29 months — is a big challenge.
Four large spread footings that will support the retractable roof are going in now. Each footing measures 15,000 sq. ft. (1,350 sq m) and requires 4,200 cu. yds (3,192 cu m) of concrete.
Each concrete placement requires two 43-meter, one 32-meter and two 45-meter Schwing boom pumps and a never-ending line of ready-mix trucks to complete the massive mat foundations. On one weekday, the concrete placement averaged 400 yds. (394 m) per hour. Another placement over a weekend averaged 550 yds. (500 m) per hour. The trucks begin rolling in around 3 a.m. and don’t stop until 11 a.m. for each footer.
“We’re going vertical now — we’re starting to put columns up,” said Smith. Six tower cranes will be put to work to help with this effort — three 630 Liebherr tower cranes will be utilized — at a hook height of 195 ft. (59 m) on two ends and 235 ft. (71 m) on another. The project will also call for several crawler cranes. Currently, they’re using a Link-Belt 235 with a 180-ft. (55 m) boom and a 30-ft. (99 m) jib. Hydraulic cranes are being utilized to service the foundation — including a 60-ton (54 t) Terex, a 50-ton (45 t) Link-Belt, as well as a 100-ton (90 t) and a 28-ton (25 t) Grove. An 8,000-lb. (3,600 kg) Terex lull rounds out the equipment list to date.
For more information, visit http://www.hchsa.org/.
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