Florida Marlins Ballpark Workers with LPR Construction, Loveland, Colo., recently began jacking the roof trusses off their shores for the retractable roof of the $515-million Florida Marlins Ballpark in Miami. To accommodate the anticipated 10 in. of vertical and 6 in. of simultaneous horizontal deflection as the shore loads are removed, the roof panel was erected onto skewed ramps atop the shoring tower structure with construction rollers between the ramps and the trusses. LPR devised a method of rolling the roof panels down the ramps while the transporters moved along at the same pace. The eastern structural panel, erected on shores last fall, is 65 ft wide, spans 533 ft and weighs 1,200 tons.

Photo courtesy LPR Construction

Best Project Representatives from general contractor Brasfield & Gorrie of Kennesaw, Ga., and the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta were on hand Dec. 8 at ENR Southeast’s annual “Best Projects” awards luncheon in Orlando to accept their “Judges Award” for construction of the $88-million Dolphin Expansion project. The award is given annually to the project deemed the best overall project among all entries by an independent panel of judges. Aquarium leadership brought together many of the same team members who built the original structure in 2005.

Photo by John Randle, Orlando