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Thanks to a feat of engineering, ‘rain stopped play' is a thing of the past on Wimbledon's famous Centre Court. Major refurbishment at the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) has given the court a state-of-the-art retractable roof.
Behind its success is the partnership between leading mechanical and electrical services contractor, Skanska, and Victaulic, world-leader in mechanical pipe joining systems. Skanska chose Victaulic because its range of products and services met all the challenges this unique project posed.
Not only did Skanska need to route 350mm (14") diameter chilled water piping and 100mm (4") heating piping in between the kilometres of steel struts that would support the retractable roof system, it also had to find a way of installing the pipework whilst keeping onsite hotworks to a bare minimum. In addition, due to the transference of weight of the 10 prismatic steel trusses as they open and close, expansion, deflection and rotation within the tight, curving roof space had to be accommodated in the design of the piping system.
Dennis Roof, regional sales manager at Victaulic, explains: "As soon as the roof starts to close, the Victaulic system starts to work on the air conditioning within Centre Court. The jointed steel pipe has to cater for structural deflection and pipe thermal movement simultaneously, whilst transporting CHW and LTHW around the court complex".
Working alongside AELTC consultants and Skanska, Victaulic's Construction Piping Services department put together detailed piping drawings. They calculated expansion, deflection and rotation parameters, determined the movement joints, selected the couplings and fittings needed, then developed a preliminary drawing of how the system would be routed. The advanced bill of materials provided by Victaulic enabled stock to be delivered to site to meet exacting schedules. Victaulic provided on-site support during the construction phase.
Mike Bridges, director of Galliford Try who managed the project, commented: "We have been working with the AELTC for over 30 years on refurbishments at Wimbledon, and Centre Court is our biggest project to date. It is thanks to partnerships such as the one we have with Victaulic that we have achieved our target."
Victaulic
Units B1 & B2, SG1 Industrial Park
Cockerell Close
Gunnells Wood Road
Stevenage
SG1 2NB
Tel: 01438 310 690
Email: dennis.roof@victaulic.be
Web: www.victaulic.com
