Stadium webcam viewing

4,399 Views | 16 Replies | Last: 14 yr ago by Cal89
goseecal
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From daily viewing of the CMS construction webcam, I've been noticing the excavation getting a lot deeper near the south tunnel, while the rest of the construction is proceeding upward. What is this all about? I hope they don't uncover something from Ishi's past.
sp4149
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goseecal;532528 said:

From daily viewing of the CMS construction webcam, I've been noticing the excavation getting a lot deeper near the south tunnel, while the rest of the construction is proceeding upward. What is this all about? I hope they don't uncover something from Ishi's past.


It looks like they've stopped digging on the South End, last week's photos you can see two excavators working in that pit. Still the pit is substantially below the stadium field level, so it may be part of the seismic design construction.
Looking at the North tunnel end, an extremely thick slab (4-5') is being poured, however in older photos it doesn't look like a similar pit was dug. There is still a lot of dirt to be removed on the south end, currently used as truck access. The South tunnel was dug into the hill slope and now has been completely 'daylighted'. With the sloping sub-floor of the new stands being installed, on the left side they end at a dirt berm. I suspect this berm will be removed, perhaps dumped into the newly dug pit and the thick slab poured under the West Side will stretch from the North Tunnel to the South Tunnel. On the south end the stadium floor will be well below the exterior wall grade, so the outer wall has to be placed on a new foundation or the dirt berm, removed from the west and north ends may remain to support the outer wall. The South end cannot have the thick slab at field level used on the North End and have a dirt berm.
LodeBear
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thanks, i noticed it too, i think it is part of the seismic reinforcement.
LodeBear
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was there this last weekend. looking good with the SAPC. sorry did not have my camera.
93BearInOregon
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Isn't that right around the place where the Hayward fault "enters" the stadium, and therefore the spot where they are building that free floating (or whatever you call it) section?
geeedub
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goseecal;532528 said:

From daily viewing of the CMS construction webcam, I've been noticing the excavation getting a lot deeper near the south tunnel, while the rest of the construction is proceeding upward. What is this all about? I hope they don't uncover something from Ishi's past.


There will be a "fault rupture block" at the southwest and northeast corners of the structure. These blocks are sections of seating built into stand alone structures that are separated from the rest of the stadium by large seismic joints.

I'm not sure how deep they need to excavate the south end to build this. On the north end, they went all the way down. (The north fault rupture block is the section being formed right now adjacent to the last remaining seats on the hillside). Notice the use of foam blocks to isolate it from the shotcrete wall at the excavated perimeter.

The rupture blocks work like this to allow for the 6' + of lateral fault movement during a major Hayward quake: The base foundation of the structure sits on a subfoundation of sand and improved soil with sheets of plastic (polyethylene) that essentially allow the 2 sides of the fault to slide relative to each other underneath the structure without tearing it apart. The structure acts as a rigid body and may slide, twist, and move but will not be torn apart. The separation joints (12" or more) from the adjacent new structure and the adjacent old hillside structure are probably covered with cover plates that can slide or crumple during this movement. They will need to saw cut these joints through the exterior wall as well.


Google search "fault rupture block" or "the science behind the stadium" and you'll get graphics and a better explanation.
bear2034
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USC lowered their field at the Coliseum and removed the track and filled it with seats. Washington will do the same. I wish we could have lowered the field at Memorial at least another several feet beyond the 3 feet or whatever it is to fill the sidelines with at least 2 rows. There's a lot of space for both team benches and I think the additional seats would have contributed to the home field advantage.
FiatSlug
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oskirules;532642 said:

USC lowered their field at the Coliseum and removed the track and filled it with seats. Washington will do the same. I wish we could have lowered the field at Memorial at least another several feet beyond the 3 feet or whatever it is to fill the sidelines with at least 2 rows. There's a lot of space for both team benches and I think the additional seats would have contributed to the home field advantage.


The examples you cite aren't really at all like Cal Memorial; the LA Coliseum and Husky Stadium are more akin to the original Stanf*rd Stadium (aka Circus Maximus) in that all three facilities had a track encircling the football field. And in all three cases, the stands were brought in closer or will be brought in closer to the field.

Cal Memorial doesn't really have that luxury unless you decide to go for a Rose Bowl like configuration, where the field corners seem to jut into the stands. That's because the field perimeter is an ellipse. Rebuilt Stanf*rd Stadium's (aka Circus Minimus) field perimeter is essentially a rectangle, allowing for the maximum number of seats relative to the playing field sidelines.

Cal Memorial's configuration is maximized for viewing at the slight expense of capacity. There would be precious few seats that could be inserted into the available space. I'd guess 3 or 4 rows at most on the east and west sides between the 10-yard lines; maybe up to 5 or 6 rows on the north and south ends about 10 yards in from the corners. But you have to balance that against the cost of excavating additional soils, relocating the Strawberry Creek culverts, and building a deeper foundation for those additional seats. I don't think the additional expense would have made those added seats worth it.

I'd rather take that same money and put it toward Phase III, which is slated to include building the Maxwell Family Field parking structure and adding a concourse with concessions and restrooms on the East Side.

If you want to increase capacity I think you'd be better off trying to conceptualize a rebuild of the East Side that allows for building an Upper Deck that stretches from goal line to goal line and adds anywhere from 8,000-10,000 seats and premium seating (aka boxes or suites). To be clear, I'd want to explore the possibility of extending the Main Concourse at the same level throughout the East Side to fully encircle the stadium and rebuilding the East Side so that the current East Rim becomes an Upper Concourse with an Upper Deck built above it. The goal would be to nudge Cal Memorial's reconfigured capacity up to 65,000 with a possibility to return to 70,000 seats. This would still be less than the most recent official capacity of 71,799.
tim94501
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So are we going to have actual seats now or still bleachers?
CaliforniaEternal
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I think they're just laying down some utilities in the south tunnel section and then they will backfill the area. The excavation for the southwest part of the stadium is basically complete since there won't be any useable building space below the concourse level. The soil is being stabilized now and the foundation will go on top of that.

Today is actually the first concrete pour scheduled for the bowl!
86Oski
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tim94501;532698 said:

So are we going to have actual seats now or still bleachers?


Bleachers everywhere except the ESP section.
tim94501
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86Oski;532882 said:

Bleachers everywhere except the ESP section.


I really don't get that. I your dropping almost half a billion into the stadium why not put seats everywhere?
FiatSlug
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tim94501;532893 said:

I really don't get that. I your dropping almost half a billion into the stadium why not put seats everywhere?


And cost: cost to purchase finished seats and cost to install.

Chairs (taken to mean seats with full backs and armrests) take up more space left-to-right (aka elbow room) and front-to-back (legroom) than do bench seats with or without backrests.

For instance, there are three levels of seats in the ESP section:

University Club - 22 inches wide by 36 inches deep (cushioned seats)
Stadium Club - 20 inches wide by 33 inches deep (padded seats)
Field Level Club - 19 inches wide by 33 inches deep (chairback seats)

These seats occupy varying amounts of space. But if you're talking about the rebuilt areas outside of the ESP sections, the benches have 30 inches of legroom and are probably allocated 18 inches of elbow room per person.

Bench seat areas, therefore, are allocated 3.75 square feet, where the ESP seats vary from:
4.35 sq. ft. (Field Level) to
4.58 sq. ft. (Stadium Club) to
5.50 sq. ft (University Club)

Even if we assume that benches are replaced with chairs roughly equivalent to Field Level seats while keeping the same 30 inch legroom, you'd lose about 5.26% of capacity in those areas where bench seats are intended. And the cost per person would be much more than simple aluminum bench seats with backrests.

It isn't worth it.
bear2034
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tim94501;532893 said:

I really don't get that. I your dropping almost half a billion into the stadium why not put seats everywhere?


That's what people will be saying when they're going to have to use porta-potties after the renovation. No one will understand except for those who have been following the project.
68great
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geeedub;532612 said:

There will be a "fault rupture block" at the southwest and northeast corners of the structure. These blocks are sections of seating built into stand alone structures that are separated from the rest of the stadium by large seismic joints.

I'm not sure how deep they need to excavate the south end to build this. On the north end, they went all the way down. (The north fault rupture block is the section being formed right now adjacent to the last remaining seats on the hillside). Notice the use of foam blocks to isolate it from the shotcrete wall at the excavated perimeter.

The rupture blocks work like this to allow for the 6' + of lateral fault movement during a major Hayward quake: The base foundation of the structure sits on a subfoundation of sand and improved soil with sheets of plastic (polyethylene) that essentially allow the 2 sides of the fault to slide relative to each other underneath the structure without tearing it apart. The structure acts as a rigid body and may slide, twist, and move but will not be torn apart. The separation joints (12" or more) from the adjacent new structure and the adjacent old hillside structure are probably covered with cover plates that can slide or crumple during this movement. They will need to saw cut these joints through the exterior wall as well.


Google search "fault rupture block" or "the science behind the stadium" and you'll get graphics and a better explanation.


Going all the way down. (all they way to the center of the Earth?)
Cal89
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And won't there be bench "seats" (not chairs) with backrests too, I believe flanking the ESP section?
68great
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Cal89;533372 said:

And won't there be bench "seats" (not chairs) with backrests too, I believe flanking the ESP section?


Cal fans in the student section thinking:

"What a bunch of wimps. Ohhhh seat backs, well la-di-da.
No wonder they can't get up to 'make some noise'."
Cal89
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68great;533384 said:

Cal fans in the student section thinking:

"What a bunch of wimps. Ohhhh seat backs, well la-di-da.
No wonder they can't get up to 'make some noise'."


You are probably right for a good portion of them 68.

F them or more importantly, that line of thinking.

Sitting down does not have to mean one must be quiet. I make noise and yell with the best, in all quarters of game; while sitting-down and being respectable to the sight lines of those around me. And in they happen to be standing-up, then do the same. You know, when in Rome...

And FWIW, my pop, who is in his 70's yells too. I can assure you that he would not be able to go as long as he does if he had to stand-up throughout the game.
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