Structural feasibility study and design for a Portable stadium

Many stadiums are built for large tournaments like the European Championship, World Championship, and Olympic Games. These stadiums need large investments and will be used below their capacity after the tournaments. A portable stadium could avoid the vacancy and optimise the use of material and the site. In this thesis the development towards a concept design for a portable stadium is described. The concept design is made for a 30.000 seat football stadium with optimal lines of sight. The stadium can be deconstructed, transported and built within 8 months. The concept design covers the grandstand and field. The design excludes the surrounding facilities and roof. First the feasibility of a portable stadium is determined by checking the transportability of the main structural elements. Hereafter different aspects have been researched; materials, stadium seats and connections stability options. The main aspects researched influence the structure and the right to exist for a portable stadium. The right to exists can be expressed in different values: functionality, appearance, time and costs. \u95 The quality of the lines of sight from the grandstand in relation to the structure; the slope of the grandstand, the distance to the field and the height of the grandstand all influence the lines of sight and the needed dimensions for the structure. The shape of the grandstand and the layout of the columns influence the appearance. Different functional and visual options are compared. \u95 Possibilities of shallow foundation; the capacity of the shallow foundation depends on the depth of the foundation slab and the subsoil. In Europe the possible locations for shallow foundation for this portable stadium are limited to the 80% best subsoil. \u95 Different structural options; the elaborated options are all based on the principles ‘direct stability’ and transportability. By folding, shifting, rotating or angling the structure, the stability is directly created during construction and the volume to transport is decreased. Different models are made to experience the portability of the structure. The concept design is based on 3 dimensional frames. Each frame consists of a girder with double hinged columns. The columns can be folded towards the girder for transportation. 52 Frames will be placed around the field. Between the frames at the top, trusses are placed. The grandstand elements (3 rows= 1 element) are placed on top of the girders and span 2 frames. Functionality: the stadium is flexible in use. Below the grandstand are large open spaces to have the flexibility to place other functions. The stadium can be adjusted for different capacities. The stadium has optimal lines of sight. Appearance: the stadium will be experienced as a fixed stadium with a spatial structure. The stadium can have a unique appearance at every location by different cladding and/ or advertisement fabrics around the stadium. Time: the time to construct, deconstruct and transport is optimised by building with relatively few elements, and by the foldability of the main structure. By unfolding and placement of the frames a direct stable structure is realized. There is no need for temporary stabilisation materials. Costs: the repeated costs are minimised by decreasing the volume to transport and simplifying the construction. The construction of the frames are standardised; all frames are constructed the same way. By the design concept the structural feasibility of a portable stadium is proven. Further research will be needed to develop the concept. The roof structure and a more detailed foundation design should be included. The concept should be further elaborated, detailed and optimised. A further financial feasibility study should be done, to prove if a portable stadium can also compete with fixed stadiums and portable grandstands from a financial point of view.Structural DesignDesign and ConstructionCivil Engineering and Geoscience