Light Industrial Unit-Storage System Integration, Fabrication

Challenge

The University of Phoenix Stadium is considered an architectural icon for the region. With exceptional design of the retractable roof, it was the perfect opportunity for Schuff Steel to perform the first ever “superlift”. Innovative steel fabrication systems and procedures were designed to accommodate the large-scale assemblies and erect as much of the roof structure as possible at one time.

• Working within a tight schedule
• Designing around fabricated materials
• Fabricating for complex designs
• Preparing our team

Solution

With dates in hand, Schuff Steel had to strategically coordinate fabrication requirements, manpower needs and erection sequencing and scheduling. We would be fabricating steel while erection of the project began, making specific detailing and fabrication schedules essential for maintaining continuous and efficient workflow at the job site. This was a difficult task though, as we knew from years of experience that fabrication and pre-assembly in shop could take months, whereas re-assembling and erection in the field would take a significantly shorter amount of time. This meant fabrication needed to start as early as possible.

Without the luxury of waiting for complete designs, and erection already underway, the success of the project relied heavily on collaboration between each team involved. To avoid delays, we worked out what could be fabricated first to keep our workflow consistent on the job site letting the less critical aspects follow at a later date. We decided to put all 4 ends of the main trusses into production rather than working on one end of one truss at a time. This allowed the project’s tight schedule to stay on track, and gave the design team, more time to complete the balance of each truss