The new 63,000-plus-seat Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis is designed for multi-purpose use, thanks largely to a first-of-its-kind retractable roof. Aside from NFL football, Lucas Oil was also designed to accommodate the NCAA Final Four, the Super Bowl, concerts, conventions and various other events.
Lucas Oil is the first to use a “SuperFrame Structural System” with a moving two-panel design whereby the roof is supported by five rails. With this design, long, narrow panels stack over the building and do not overhang or shadow the façade.

Tolerances were extremely tight on the roof, necessitated by the multi-purpose concept of a stadium that will host both open-air football and indoor events such as basketball.

USI Consultants relied heavily upon the accuracy and productivity of a Topcon GTS-233W total station to meet the tight roof tolerances. Tim Brown, project manager for USI Consultants, notes just how tightly the roof engineer, Houston-based Walter P. Moore, dictated the tolerances on the retractable roof structure: within an eighth of an inch, or about as close to “zero tolerance” as realistically possible.

 

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Company: USI Consultants
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Project: Lucas Oil Stadium
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

Scope: Stadium covers 1.8 million square feet total. Roof is a moving two-panel design supported by five rails providing 176,400 square feet of opening when open. Cable drum drives mounted to transporters operate two 600-by-175-foot bi-parting panels. Roof is 270 feet high. A pair of 760-foot-long steel SuperFrames supports the roof with the help of five peaked, three-span transverse trusses spaced 144 feet apart.

Topcon Products:
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Topcon Dealer:
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Indianapolis, IN
www.1psc.com