MILOS QuickTruss® showed how to overcome the challenges and engineering requirements of temporary structures for recent roof projects at two major baseball stadiums – Washington DC’s Nationals Park and Baltimore’s Oriole Park at Camden Yard, USA.
The temporary structures served as television broadcasting booths complete with lighting, a complex map of cabling and electrical wires, and a weather-proof canopy to keep commentators dry during rainy innings.
The bespoke broadcasting booths were designed by Creative Dimensions, a full service exhibition and sign specialist based in Cheshire, Connecticut. Doug Carabillo, their Director of Business Development, needed to cover all bases when assembling experts from many different industries. He was not familiar with MILOS products, but had received numerous referrals from other vendors working on the project, and decided to utilise QuickTruss. “Some of our most trusted partners highly recommended MILOS,” he comments. “And I was convinced that all the elements would be taken care of by using this product.”
As with any outdoor structure, meteorology – and its unpredictably – matters! Rain and snow are common during spring months in the areas, which necessitated an angled roof and custom-fitted canopy.
This was particularly challenging! The slope of the roof needed to be subtle enough not to interfere with the camera perspectives, whilst still providing sufficient water drainage. MILOS medium duty M290V Quatro trussing was specified for the frame with a grid of duo cross runs braced with 2” tubing, slightly sloped. The framework was pre-assembled and fitted with a custom PVC canopy by SPEVCO at their Winston-Salem, North Carolina HQ before being shipped to its final destination.
Wind load factors were also a major issue at Oriole Park, where the solution was creative ballasting. Custom 1360 Kg (3000 lbs) concrete blocks were specified by the engineers and fitted to the truss. “It has already withstood some high wind situations with no issues,” Carabillo declared. “The ballpark facilities manager is very pleased and comfortable with the way everything was fabricated and installed.”
Other key players in the project include lighting designers Circuit Lighting of Green Brook, NJ, who also provided onsite assembly and fitting of the structures. To make the systems completely portable, they labeled each fixture, power supply and cable – so de-rigging and re-rigging was easy for the next crew. The stage platforms were provided by Quik Stage of Blaine, MN while the custom PVC canopy, stage railing and ballasting were produced by SPEVCO in Winston-Salem NC. West Nyack, NY-based McLaren Engineering Group, who worked in tandem with the stadium’s team of authorities, ensured the complete safety of the structures. “MILOS truss made it possible for us to make an understandable ‘road map’ of the entire system,” said Richard Tilley, CEO of Circuit Lighting. “QuickTruss was particularly well suited to this turnkey design.”
“This is a great example of a modular system with a specialty application that was engineered specifically for the customer,” said MILOS America’s president Jeff Broitman, adding, “With a four to six week turnaround time-frame, we actually delivered in 9 days.”
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