BC Place Retractable Roof Construction
August 16th, 2010
August 16, 2010
VANCOUVER, BC: David Podmore, Chair of BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo), presented a construction update Thursday morning on the new retractable roof and stadium revitalization project at BC Place.
Mr. Podmore addressed attendees from the rooftop balcony of the nearby Hampton Inn and Suites, which provides an elevated viewpoint of the first roof components now being installed.
An animation video depicting the construction process can be found under the ‘Construction’ menu at www.bcplace.com
Date: Thursday, August 5, 2010
Time: 10:00AM
Location: Upper Balcony
Hampton Inn and Suites by Hilton
111 Robson Street (Beatty and Robson)
Vancouver, BC
To be included in future Media updates on BC Place, accredited media should contact:
Media contact:
Trevor Pancoust
604.646.3567
Retractable Roof Construction - By the Numbers
- 7,000 tons - weight of steel used in the construction of the retractable roof
- 76,000 square metres – area of fabric used to cover the roof
- 50 metres – approximate length of each mast
- 130 tons – average weight of each mast
- 90mm (3.5 inches) – diameter of individual cables used in the spans between masts (Whistler’s Peak to Peak gondola uses primary cables that are 56mm in diameter)
- 35 kilometres – total length of cable used
- 7,000,000 kilograms – weight of snow that can be supported by the roof structure
- 240 metres – length of the longest spans between masts
- 1,100 tons – maximum lifting capacity of the crane being used to hoist large sections of the roof (Capacity of 600 tons in the configuration being used at BC Place)
- 85 semi-trailers – number of units required to transport the crane to the stadium for assembly
Roof Construction Schedule
May & June 2010 • Air-supported roof deflated and removed
July 2010 • Assembly of large crane completed
• Centre “node” for roof hoisted atop temporary centre tower
• First of 36 exterior masts installed on ring beam (each one weighs approx. 130 tons)
Fall 2010 • Installation of tension ring cable and glazing begins
Winter 2010 &
Spring 2011 • Temporary centre field scaffolding is removed
• Roof support cables tensioned across stadium
• Installation of roof fabric begins
Late Summer 2011 • BC Place reopens for limited events
• BC Lions return to BC Place for home CFL games
• Vancouver Whitecaps FC play first home MLS game at BC Place
November 2011 • Final completion of roof construction
• BC Place hosts Grey Cup 2011
Project information, construction webcam images and updates available at www.bcplace.com