Rogers Centre Roof Study

OWNER

Rogers Communications

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Services:

Roofing and Waterproofing / Performance Modeling

Structural Roof Analysis and Assessment

Roof Rail Survey

Completion date

Phase I - 2012

Phase II - 2013

Phase III - 2014

Phase IV - 2017

Rogers Centre Roof Study

Toronto
Ontario

The Rogers Centre, formerly SkyDome, opened in 1989 and was the third retractable roof in North America at the time. The Centre serves at the home of Toronto Blue Jays and Argonauts, as well as hosts more than 100 event nights per year. The structure struggled with an outdated mechanization control system and experienced untimely roof hang-ups during opening and closing.

The Blue Jays selected Walter P Moore as their engineer of choice to make needed improvements to the roof mechanization systems and controls in order to modernize the retractable roof. The modernization of the roof concentrated on conserving energy and operational efficiency while providing improved reliability, safety, diagnostic capability and system redundancy.

Walter P Moore has been in four phases of the project including an initial investigation into the root causes of roof failure, recommended solutions, the implementation of rail and support repairs, procurement of mechanization design, and the installation of a new roof control system. The roof now closes and opens smoothly and quietly, in just 20 minutes, compared to the previous 40 to 45-minutes. The upgrades also expedite the accurate identification of any issues and direct staff to the most appropriate preventive maintenance and repairs.

In addition to roof modernization, the team also investigated how the roof would affect the field if the Blue Jays were to replace the current artificial turf with real grass. We provided performance modeling to simulate light conditions that would affect grass growth and determine if the current roof material should be replaced with ETFE or similar translucent materials.

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Rogers Centre Roof Modernization