The Phoenix Raceway underwent a $178 million remodel to add a Grandstand structure radiused around the track for spectators to sit and eat while providing views of the track. It also included an expanded and relocated concourse with escalator access, entertainment areas and an underground tunnel system providing access to the infield. All 37 acres of the infield were also redesigned to include garages, fan-experience zones, paths for service vehicles and a new leaderboard. Schuff Steel’s role was to design assist with the architect and project engineer, fabricate 50% of the structural steel needed, and erect the entire Grandstand while tying back into the existing structure. Collaboration and thorough planning prior to fabrication was a key component of this project. The build included thousands of bolt holes that had to line up with the mounting posts of the guardrail supplied and installed by others.

SoFi Stadium is comprised of a seating bowl sunk 100 feet into the ground with giant concrete blade columns positioned in front to support its iconic cable truss roof system. Schuff’s scope of work included the complex roof shell and compression ring, which provides the anchoring for the cable truss system that supports the translucent ETFE material covering the roof. The roof structure is made up of 30 large sections. While 3 sections are significantly larger, every section has slight variations in size due to the geometry of the design. The Schuff Steel team worked hard to design the master plan of hoisting giant pre-assembled sections of the roof into place. Temporary shoring towers were used to jack posts up to the top of concrete columns and a giant crane was assembled to service the first 4,000 tons of steel that arrived on site via heavy haul dual lane trailers and police escort. Each hoisted piece ranged in size up to 250,000 pounds by 100 feet long.