Safety First Gets High Marks for Grandstand Roof Installation

Location:	Geelong, Victoria
Country:	Australia
Project Size:	A$28 million
Builder:	Kane Constructions and Geelong Roofing
Project Team:	Davis Langdon Australia (Project Manager)
Products Used:	LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700 HI-STRENGTH®

Spectators looking on from the A$28 million grandstand development at Geelong's Skilled Stadium are benefitting from a building technique which has helped speed construction of a growing number of sports facilities around Australia.

The new 6,000 seat grandstand complex is designed not to increase spectator capacity at the Geelong Cats' home ground, but to dramatically improve comfort levels for a significant number of the AFL club's loyal supporters.

Davis Langdon Australia project managed the redevelopment and Kane Constructions was the builder for the project which also included construction of sports administration offices, a new gymnasium and a new function room available for use by other community groups.

The use of a grandstand roof building technique which saved time, reduced costs and significantly lowered occupational health and safety risks was a key element of the construction process. The technique was arrived at as a result of consultation between Kane Constructions and local contractor Geelong Roofing.

"There were numerous reasons for adopting the technique," Geelong Roofing's Peter Geels said. "The primary reason was a safety. Any work that you can carry out on the ground is fundamentally safer than the same work carried out at roof level."

"Associated Rigging constructed the roof frame on the ground in eight modules which each measured 12 metres by 13.4 metres and our team then fixed LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700 HI-STRENGTH® cladding before the panels were craned into position."

The new Skilled Stadium grandstand roof design called for the use of LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700 HI-STRENGTH® rollformed from double-sided COLORBOND® ULTRA steel in the colour Windspray® and here too the on-ground cladding method worked to the project's advantage.

"The more we got into the job the more advantages emerged," Peter Geels said. "By fixing the roof cladding on the ground we avoided the need to use safety mesh and that in turn eliminated the chance of accidental damage to the sheeting which can sometimes occur when the mesh is later removed."

Timing of material deliveries and construction phases was also crucial, but took place without problems. "BlueScope Lysaght delivered the cladding as and when we needed it throughout the job and their flexibility was very helpful," Peter Geels said.

"Geelong experiences windy conditions which could have slowed or interrupted the roof cladding process if we had gone about it in the conventional manner, but by cladding the panels on the ground we were less weather dependent and the process was accelerated."

Each of the eight roofing modules consisted of a single rafter, all purlins, cladding, skylights, box gutter sections and a temporary lifting beam. Geelong Roofing's fixers carried out final alignment and watertightness adjustments when each module had been lifted into position next to its neighbour.

"In some ways we learnt as we went, but in similar circumstances this is a method we would definitely consider again," Peter Geels said.

Due to its unique profile, LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700 HI-STRENGTH® incorporates transverse micro-flutes in the pan, adding to the robustness of the high-strength steel. This enables long spans, and extremely long runs.

The combination of the attractive micro fluting and the robust wide ribs, provides an elegant, state of the art roof cladding system. LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700 HI-STRENGTH® sheets are laid directly onto clips secured to supports. With no exposed fasteners, the sheets provide a clean, smooth finish to the roof.