Cowboys’ New Stadium ‘Builds it Bigger’

Dallas Cowboys Stadium featured on The Science Channel; PBS&J helps preserve local history through Texas State Veterans Cemetery Program; Lucas Oil Stadium earns engineering accolades.

Dallas Cowboys Stadium Stars on Science Channel’s ‘Build It Bigger’

The NFL’s largest venue – the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium – was featured on the Science Channel’s “Build it Bigger” in mid-April. Designed by Dallas-based architecture firm HKS, structurally engineered by Walter P Moore of Houston and built by Dallas-based Manhattan Construction Co., the stadium opened to the public on June 6.

In the first episode of this season of “Build It Bigger,” Danny Forster – host and professional architect – visited the site of the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium and featured interviews with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, HKS principal Mark Williams and professionals from the Manhattan Construction Co. building team.

At 3-million sq ft, the stadium is setting a precedent in architectural design and construction. Featuring 80,000 seats and the largest and longest retractable roof ever constructed, the stadium also has the largest operable glass door in the world and two 180-ft-long HD video screens.

“Build it Bigger” highlights the massive engineering projects from the manufacturing and fabrication of building materials to the multifaceted, meticulous process of putting the materials together in one complete structure.

Along the way, Forster breaks down the unique architectural challenges of each construction site by introducing viewers to the construction professionals responsible for making it come together and trying his hand at some of their tasks. High-tech computer graphics round out his multi-faceted presentation to help viewers gain a greater understanding of the scope and scale of each undertaking.

PBS&J Preserves Local History in Texas State Veterans Cemeteries

The Texas Veterans Land Board contracted PBS&J of Austin to plan and design several new state cemeteries, two of which — in Killeen, near Fort Hood, and in Mission in the Rio Grande Valley — opened in 2006. A third cemetery, in Abilene, opened in May. Plans for a fourth cemetery in Corpus Christi are under way. And the firm is also working on an expansion of the national veteran’s cemetery in Fort Worth.

Until 2006, Texas had only four national cemeteries operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In 2001, the Texas Legislature authorized the creation of up to seven state veterans cemeteries, with a goal of having a site within a two-hour drive of most Texas cities.

The Texas State Veterans Cemetery Program gets much of its funding from the Federal Veteran’s Administration for the construction. The Texas General Land Office will maintain the projects, says Chad Gilpin, project manager at PBS&J in Austin.

“These are brand new facilities,” he told Texas Construction. “Each site will have a visitors’ center, office complexes and some maintenance complexes,” Gilpin says. “The site has a park feel with a park lawn and trees,” he adds. He says the sites serve as memorials with military flags and memorials to the veterans.

The critical part of the projects is to tie in the local culture near each cemetery, he says.

“The public information center and building for ceremonies will reflect the community,” he says. “On these historical preservation type of projects, we like to get the community involved.”

As part of that, PBS&J will set up pre-design meetings with city and county staff as well as local veterans’ groups to allow them to provide input on the look of the project because it is they whom it serves.

“We spend a great deal of time in the preliminary planning stage. We research the history, architecture and native plantings to reflect the history of the community.”

Each of the seven cemeteries that will be constructed across the state will be distinctly different for each community to reflect the local history.

“There is a lot of satisfaction in these projects,” Gilpin says. “Often, the community gets a unique identity from its history and preservation of that history. Being a part of something that makes that community proud is rewarding. We want these cemeteries to be something that reflects the community. It is their history and something that makes them proud. To have them associate PBS&J with projects that are unique to that community is great.”

PBS&J also worked with the city of San Antonio on its redevelopment plan for the city’s Main Plaza. As part of its work on the project, PBS&J deployed a team of historians and archaeologists. The team found important traces of the unique heritage of San Antonio and enabled the project to proceed with all necessary approvals from city and state preservation officials.

PBS&J also works with the Texas Department of Transportation to identify, document and preserve Texas history as legally required by federal and state laws when planning a highway project.

PBS&J assists archeology and history specialists in TxDOT’s Environmental Affairs division by helping locate thousands of unrecorded historic sites by applying modern technology to make places of the past evident to those in the present.

Walter P Moore Wins National, State Awards for Lucas Oil Stadium

Houston-based Walter P Moore won a grand award in the American Council of Engineering Companies 2009 Engineering Excellence Awards competition for its role in the engineering design of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Lucas Oil Stadium was recognized as one of the top engineering achievements nationwide winning Walter P Moore of Houston a “grand award”. (Photo courtesy of Blake Marvin/HKS Inc.)

ACEC recognized the project as one of the top eight engineering achievements nationwide for 2009. Criteria for awards include uniqueness and originality, technical, social and economic value, complexity, and success of the projects in meeting goals.

Walter P Moore also won a gold medal in the “Structural Systems Category” of the 2009 Engineering Excellence Awards competition sponsored by the Texas Council of Engineering Companies.

As lead structural engineer and engineer-of-record for the project, Walter P Moore provided the some engineering firsts--including the first movable roof with panels that slide open lengthwise. As the panels travel up a steeply inclined roof, each panel is supported on five parallel rails, and a winding spool technology reclaims energy as the roof moves. A linkage mechanism ensures the panels will not bind or wear. A custom weather-sealing system protects the roof’s perimeter. The stadium boasts North America’s largest moving-glass window wall.

TxDOT Honored by 2009 C&D Recycling Excellence

The Texas Department of Transportation was honored recently in the construction and demolition, or C&D, recycling field during the recent Annual Meeting of the Construction Materials Recycling Association. The CMRA is a national nonprofit organization that promotes the recycling of construction and demolition materials.

TxDOT has one of the largest network of highway miles under its stewardship and was honored in the government C&D recycling program category. For 15 years some of its 25 highway districts have been among the most progressive for their use of recycled materials. In many parts of the state TxDOT has been a big user of recycled aggregates.’

In just the past two years, TxDOT saved approximately 1.8-million tons of virgin aggregates by incorporating recycled concrete aggregate in a variety of concrete pavement applications as well as use of recycled shingles in hot-mix asphalt for some projects and the common use of recycled asphalt in many operations.

TxDOT is known for its progressive use of recycled materials and aggregates.

Dallas Structural Engineer John Logan Tanner III Dies at 79 John Logan Tanner III, founding partner of the Dallas structural engineering firm Ellisor & Tanner that later became the Dallas office of the international firm Thornton Tomasetti, Inc., died on February 17 of natural causes at the age of 79. Tanner designed structural systems for projects including high-rise office buildings, health care facilities, hotels, urban centers and retail facilities throughout the United States and internationally during a career that spanned 50 years. Tanner’s contributions to the Dallas skyline included structural engineering of the Renaissance Tower (originally called First International Tower), designed by HOK; The Crescent, a 25-story, four million sq ft mixed-use property designed by architect Philip Johnson; the Campbell Centre (best known as JR Ewing’s building in the 1970s TV show “Dallas”; the 50-story First City Center and dozens of other projects.) Tanner founded Ellisor & Tanner with college classmate Elmer Ellisor in 1967, building the firm into one of the most successful in the Southwest. The firm specialized in the design of high-rise and mixed-use projects. The firm pioneered the use of stub-girders and many other technical innovations. Thornton Tomasetti acquired Ellisor & Tanner in June of 1997, and Tanner retired two years later. Tanner co-authored the textbook “Reinforced Concrete Design” published by McGraw-Hill in 1966.