Memorial Stadium redesign underway after May collapse
The aftermath of the collapse of section 14 at Memorial Stadium last month. Engineers are
currently in the process of getting the stadium ready in time for Nebraska’s home season
opener on Seot. 4.
By Lisa Vernon
Staff Reporter
Following the collapse of aportion*
of Memorial Stadium last month,
structural engineers have decided to
give the stadium’s section 14 a new
look.
Engineers are currently in the pro
cess of designing a new section to
replace not only the part that col
lapsed on May 17, but to replace the
entire section, said Rich McDermott,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln di
rector of facilities management.
He said the mirror image of the
collapsed section, section 18, will not
be rebuilt, but reinforced with support
beams to prevent it from a possible
collapse.
UNL Chancellor Graham Spanier
said the new design for the section
would meet three goals.
First, he said, it will be 100 percent
safe within the limits allowed by
modem construction techniques.
Second, the section will include
more seats to help meet the continu
ing high demand for tickets.
Finally, the new section will in
clude additional space to help meet
the growing need for space for dis
abled football fans.
“We will strive to have the stadium
reconstruction completed before the
. first footbaH game this fall, but we
can’t promise this,” Spanier said.
“Safety will be our first priority.”
UNL officials hired two outside
firms, Batheja & Associates and Wiss,
Janney, Estner Associates Inc. fol
lowing the incident to find the cause
of the collapse, and then to do a
structural analysis of the complete
stadium.
Batheja presented its report on the
cause of the collapse at a press confer
ence last month. According to Kelton
Bush, structural engineer for the firm,
the collapse occurred because of a
small, localized concrete failure. This
failure consequently resulted in a slow
developing crack.
“The cause of the crack itself is a
result of inadequate shear reinforcing
in the concrete. Cracks occur in con
crete all the time, that is it’s nature, ’
but without shear reinforcing the crack
had a result,” Bush said. “No one is to
blame for the fall though, because
when this structure was built in 1964,
this reinforcement was not needed;
there were different building codes
back then.”
According to UNL officials, re
pairing and rebuilding the stadium
will be costly. The funds to cover this
cost may come from the Athletic
Department Capital Facilities Repair
and Renovation Fundr but will de
pend on a variety of factors relating to
determination of liability and insur
ance coverage.
No state tax funds will be used,
Spanier said.
“The university lakes great con
cern for the collapse of section 14 in
Memorial Stadium,” Spanier said.
“The football program is a great asset
to Nebraska and is very important to
this university.
“When the complete process of
evaluation is completed, Memorial
Stadium will be the most studied sia
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