Rope and Sling Specialists (RSS) has completed load tests on three lifting frames that will be used as part of a retractable football pitch in London.
SCX Group was selected to provide the retractable football pitch for Premier League football team Tottenham Hotspur's new stadium at White Hart Lane.
The 62,000-seater stadium, a part of the Northumberland development project, is scheduled for completion later this year. Integral to the multipurpose design is a retractable grass field with an artificial surface underneath that will be used for NFL International Series (American football) matches.
The real turf pitch will be rolled in and out of the stadium in three sections; each section weighs over 3,000 tonnes and is driven by 68 electric motors that will roll it along rails on 168 wheels. These wheels were tested in-house by RSS in 10-tonne increments, up to 85 tonnes, using an Enerpac hydraulic press.
The whole pitch, which is split lengthways, can be rolled out in just 25 minutes.
RSS tested the three frames, one of which was used for the installation of pitch trays at the stadium and needed to be uprated from 27-tonnes to 35-tonnes working load limit (WLL)
Each frame was tested using a 150-tonne-capacity mobile crane from PP Engineering; four 35-tonne-capacity 2,000mm wire-rope slings; soft eyes for each end; and four 25-tonne alloy bow shackles.
Steve Hutin, managing director at RSS, said: "When I'm watching matches on the television at White Hart Lane next season I'll be thinking of the integral role RSS played in keeping the project on track."
