Earthquake protections being built into Allegiant Stadium
When most people look at Allegiant Stadium, they view it as an immovable steel and concrete building.
“You think of these things being fairly static,” said stadium company chief operating officer Don Webb. “But actually, this building is intended to move because of its thermal expansion and contraction, and it has be be able to move during an earthquake. The roof will be able to sway and withstand the greater seismic force.”
Webb discussed earthquake protections built into the stadium as well as the process of building the translucent roof in a recent tour of the construction site.
Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney and reporter Rick Velotta discussed the building’s construction progress in the latest “Vegas Nation Stadium Show.”
The 65,000-seat, $1.9 billion stadium is being built with earthquake-friendly columns and bearings attaching the roof to the main concourse so that a temblor won’t tear the building apart.
“It’s like a knuckle,” Webb explained. “It can rotate at the top and bottom of a column because of a pair of bearings that allow the roof to move independent of the concrete floor.”
The column and bearings have a give of about 3 inches side to side, about 4 inches vertically and about 1 inch front to back. Webb said crews are allowing the roof to settle and they’ll assess with precision laser measurement equipment whether any adjustments need to be made before the 100 stainless-steel cables supporting the roof are attached.
Each column is marked with “QC” and “QA” — indicating that the contractor has had specialists checking every bolt on the column for “quality control” and that crews independent of the contractors, hired by the Raiders, double-check their work for “quality assurance.”
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.
