Architectural Bracket For Miami Marlins Baseball Stadium

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How do you keep the retractable roof of a gigantic baseball stadium opening and closing smoothly, day after day, letting the sunshine in and keeping the elements out? Ajax stepped up to the plate and provided the solution.

No Room For Error: Architectural Bracket Solution

This client had a design for the new, high-profile Miami Marlins Major League Baseball park, LoanDepot Park, but needed help with the fabrication of the large sheet metal roofing components for the new ballpark. The concern: any shape variations in the finished components would likely result in leaks and subsequent water damage. The requirement, therefore, was very tight seals, both to mating parts and to the overhead weather seal. Ajax quickly went to work to engineer a better way to form the high-tensile material required for this application.

“We had the project quoted by a couple of vendors. Ajax wasn’t the cheapest, but they were the quickest to respond with workable answers for our more difficult questions about tooling and bends,” reported the structural engineer on the project.

In particular, an 8-foot landing piece needed to be bent in three locations, then overlap the adjoining piece. “That was the piece nobody else seemed to be able to make,” the client said. Then, when the client realized the pieces would flatten during shipping, Ajax devised customized shipping containers that protected the formed pieces without adding significant cost. “Ajax provided the solution by the end of the day,” he said.

By providing complete in-house tool and die services, Ajax gives our customers greater production efficiency, faster delivery, and the best possible quality control.  Plus, third-party tooling costs can be avoided. Ajax uses only the latest CAD/CAM technology for die design and tool building.  We provide solutions that range from fully progressive, high volume to low-cost, short run jobs. We maintain tools on the spot to avoid production interruptions. And we require very thorough training and qualification programs among all our tooling experts. The Ajax 14-foot Cincinnati press brake was used for this project.  

 

  • Project Scope: Manufacturing design and build large components for weather seal on a retractable roof
  • Design Work: Designed manufacturing offset to create a weather-tight seal of components
  • Product Description: Retractable Roof Seal Components
  • Capabilities Applied/Processes: Engineering Design; Prototyping; Custom Tooling; Compound Bending; Protective Shipping Components
  • Tightest Tolerance: .020
  • Material Thickness: .179 inch (7 GA); .164 inch (8 GA); .134 inch (10 GA)
  • Material Used: Grade 50 HRPO steel
  • Material Finish: Unfinished
  • Industry for Use: Architectural sheet metal stamping and forming
  • Volume: Short run
  • Lead Time: 3 weeks
  • Delivery Location: Miami, Florida
  • Standards Met: LEED. Read more about the LoanDepot Park retractable roof here.