This was the new division's first major event and involved several technical challenges, the first of which was that the roof had to be built over the top of a 100m wide by 11m high permanently installed Mitsubishi LED screen.
The roof was made primarily out of Serious Stages' Space truss to Atlantic Enterprises' and structural engineer Dragan Kuzamanov's method statement.
The cantilevered roof elevation measured 25m wide and overhung the stage just in front of the screen by 19m, with 16m protruding at the back supported by a scaffolding 'bird-cage', cable stays to a seven king poles at the top and 84 tonnes of concrete ballast down below stored in seven stillages at the bottom of the bird cage. It's a similar design to that of a tower crane.
"We needed a fabulous looking and highly space-efficient solution that ensured clear sight-lines to the screen for the 10000 people immediately in front of the stage plus all those in the VIP grandstand seats 100m away. A cantilever design was the only way to go," explains Jo Marshall who is heading up Al Laith Events Services.
The roof was constructed from 7 x 34m lines of trussing, each with its own 12 tonnes of ballast. At the front of each truss were 3.5 tonne turfers running back to the base of the scaffolding system, allowing each truss to pick up 5 tonnes in weight. This gave more than enough weight loading for Sting's PA (supplied by Delta Sound) and lights.
The front stays between the truss and the king poles were to guard against uplifts of wind, and the entire structure was rated to safely resist winds of up to 90km an hour, which are a constant issue in exposed spaces in Dubai.
(Jim Evans)
