Tight tolerances met for Lucas Oil Stadium

‘It is easy to level and fast to set up with the laser plummet. Its Bluetooth feature allows for a cable-free environment to work in.’
– Tim Brown, project manager, USI
USI Consultants relied heavily upon the accuracy of the Topcon GTS-233W total station for the Lucas Oil Stadium project.

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Brown points out that the wireless GTS-233W has some user-friendly features that greatly improved productivity on this project. “It is easy to level, and fast to set up with the laser plummet,” he says. “Its Bluetooth feature allows for a cable-free environment to work in. The Bluetooth range is about 25 feet, allowing you to move about the instrument or even back to your truck without losing the connection.

“If you have to go back to the truck to read your plans, you can take your controller with you to aid in additional computations. There are also no cables to lose or get broken. The instrument itself has a simple keyboard without a lot of menus—this means fewer keystrokes.”

When surveying the retractable roof, Jason Deiwert, crew chief, carried a reflector up a stairwell that goes to the seventh and top level in the southwest end of the stadium and Michael Baden, instrument operator, carried a Topcon GTS-233W total station.

Then, having gone to opposite sides of the transverse trusses via catwalks, the crew put in a control line across each transverse

truss to check the alignment of the panels at each truss. Brown reports that, because the roof operates with multiple motors and they all have to be running at the same speed, USI Consultants put a line across each truss so that the panels could be monitored during movement.

The surveyors also aligned the railing system. Using a control traverse that was set around the base of the structure, the crew set the alignment on the ground. After the alignment was checked on the ground, the crew transferred it up at both ends with the use of the GTS-233W. After alignment was established at a given level, the crew moved its instruments up to the top and verified the alignment from up above.

In addition to the roof, USI Consultants surveyed the concrete walls and floors as each of the seven levels were constructed. The plumbness of the south walls was also checked prior to installation of large glass panels. USI Consultants set control lines for the luxury suites and press box for drywall and plumbing contractors, as well as surveying the field and goalposts.
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