MILWAUKEE (AP) - Construction of the new NBA arena in Milwaukee has reached a milestone as crews place the first of nine enormous roof trusses above the partially-finished steel structure.
The lift began Tuesday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (https://bit.ly/2qtXK6x ) reported. It involves workers from Merrill Iron & Steel, a local company that supplied the roof pieces, as well as Janesville-based construction company JP Cullen and the project construction manager, Mortenson Construction.
“This is considerably more complex than what we’ve done to date,” said Ellen Becker, a Mortenson project engineer, on the fast-moving project. “It’s really high in the air, and it’s substantially heavier. And that offers a few more challenges.”
The trusses’ length adds to that complexity. They max out at about 200 feet each and are so large they have to be assembled inside the bowl, on what will eventually be the basketball court.
They’ll each be lifted in two pieces and bolted into place by workers hundreds of feet off the ground.
The truss lifts, which will take place into the summer, culminate a key phase of the $524 million project. The Milwaukee Bucks’ owners promise to use local businesses was a key commitment made when they secured $250 million in public funding for the project.
Merrill Steel cut, drilled and painted the trusses and every other piece of steel in the arena’s frame and hauled them to Milwaukee. Brian Geurink, project manager, said the family-owned company has been in business since the 1960s and employs about 175 people in Schofield.
As the steel part of the project finished, attention will shift to getting the walls and roof up so that the building is completely enclosed and weather tight by November.
“Everything is right on schedule,” Becker said, noting that a mild winter helped. “The success path of our project runs through the structural steel.”
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Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, https://www.jsonline.com
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