International Sales "La Plata Stadium"

WRI successfully landed another large contract for suspended roof cables. The project in question is the 50 000 seat La Plata soccer stadium located near Buenos Aires, Argentina. The order was received from our long-time partner, which is responsible for the fabrication and installation of the roof system.

The La Plata facility is unique in that it is the first covered stadium that has a natural grass field. Normally, artificial turf has to be used, as grass will not grow in a closed environment. Tests performed in Argentina showed that it was possible to grow grass indoors given the right set of conditions. The La Plata stadium is using a membrane that permits 24% light transmission, and it will also have open sides to permit proper ventilation. The ability to have a natural turf field in a domed stadium is a significant step forward. Successful implementation will open the door for even more covered stadiums to be built in the future.

The contract calls for more than 400 assemblies of structural strand, ranging in size from 1-9/16" to 3-7/8". Most of the work is being done in the new socketing tower that was recently installed at our Pointe Claire plant. Recognizing the growing market for structural support cables, this new facility was built with the express purpose of handling projects like roof assemblies, where many hours are expended socketing relatively short lengths of rope or structural strand.

The new tower is also ideal for boom pendants, hanger cables for bridges, and segmented tower guys. In the past, all of the work had to be put through the existing set-up, and invariably, the volume of orders that we could handle was constrained by the capacity to pour sockets. The investment in this new socketing tower makes it possible for WRI to take on large projects like La Plata, without sacrificing opportunities in the broadcast tower market.

Kevin Tellier