Stable Special Solutions using DYWIDAG Form Ties: Miami Marlins Ballpark
On July 18th 2009, a long-awaited ground breaking was held for the Miami Marlin’s baseball team: They were finally getting their own ballpark. In the past, the team played their home games in the multi-purpose Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida. This stadium was not suitable for baseball because of its unfavorable size and lighting conditions.
The larger Miami Marlin’s Ballpark is 86,215m², has 37,442 seats and was opened on Opening Day of the 2012 Major League Baseball Season.
The structure’s innovative retractable roof was awarded a Silver Certificate in 2012 for its environmentally friendly, resource-friendly, and sustainable design by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The retractable roof consists of nearly 8,000t of high-strength steel. The rails for the roof structure are supported by two rows of tall columns consisting of two parts. The lower part of the piers is massive and crossed at the base, while the upper part of the columns branches into three sub-piers curving outward.
As the columns have different bend angles at each level due to their curvatures, a particularly complex, single face climbing system was used for this project. Alsina Forms Co. supplied the complete formwork system that was used to build the piers.
The approx. 46m high columns were erected using an average of 9 individual segments. During pier construction, extreme weather conditions such as tropical storms and hurricanes that regularly occur in Florida had to be taken into account.
In order to absorb the high lateral forces, the formwork system was stabilized using continuous high-strength Ø 15mm DYWIDAG Form Ties. The DYWIDAG Form Ties were in turn joined to the climbing system using strong struts in order to counterbalance the horizontal loads of the concrete. For stabilizing the complex formwork system, DSI USA supplied more than 3,000m of DYWIDAG Form Ties.