BC Place's inflatable roof comes down
20 July 2010
Eagle-eyed World Crane Week newsletter reader Walter Harder, technical specialist at AMEC Americas, has sent in a webcam link to the dismantling and construction of the BC Place's inflatable roof.
According to Harder, in the early eighties the 60000 seat BC Place stadium, which has been the home to the Canadian Football League's BC Lions since 1983, was built in Vancouver, British Canada, Canada, with an inflatable dome roof. The roof has now reached the end of its life and is being replaced with a retractable roof.
"During construction, an exterior and interior webcam have been placed to record construction on an hourly basis. I thought readers may be interested in observing numerous cranes, including several large Mammoet cranes, performing their duties," said Harder
To see the webcam CLICK HERE
Project background
The new retractable roof will resemble the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt, Germany (home of football club Eintracht Frankfurt) and is designed by the same architect, Gerkan, Marg and Partners.
On January 9, 2009, the British Columbia government approved the business case for a CA$ 365 million (US$ 345 million) upgrade of BC Place, which included a retractable roof estimated at about CA$ 200 million (US$ 189 million).
The CA$ 365 million also included CA$ 65 million (US$ 61.5 million) in interior improvements already underway, a CA$ 43 million (US$ 40.7 million) seismic upgrade, the roof project, plumbing, electrical and infrastructure improvements and a contingency fund.
In October 2009, the BC Government officially announced that BC Place would be getting a new retractable roof at a new cost of CA$ 458 million (US$ 434 million).
Construction of the new roof started in May after the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and is scheduled to be completed in the mid-2011.
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