Building a 40,000-seat baseball stadium in less than two years on an urban renewal site in Downtown Detroit demands extensive expertise and aggressive innovation. The International Facilities Group, L.L.C. found this unique combination in NTH.
Project Scope International Facilities Group (and later the Detroit Tigers Organization) retained NTH to provide the engineering services that formed the backbone of this landmark project:
Environmental investigations, remediation and emergency response
Geotechnical investigations, foundation design, and underground engineering
Construction monitoring for earthwork, foundations, concrete, steel erection, and other supplemental areas.
All work was done according to an aggressive schedule to be ready for Opening Day 2000.
Project Approach NTH provided a seamless team of engineering professionals for the project. We began with an environmental evaluation of over 50 parcels, with histories ranging from residential to multi-use industrial. NTH identified potential sources of contamination in the ground and within the abandoned buildings (such as lead and asbestos). Remediation proceeded, all according to an Administrative Agreement/Covenant Not to Sue, executed between the project developers and the State of Michigan.
While site cleanup was underway, NTH performed a geotechnical investigation for the stadium and related structures. We designed a cost-effective foundation system that met stadium design requirements and local geotechnical conditions. NTH also addressed the challenges involved with excavating the playing field 26 feet below street level.
Our professionals provided full-time, on-site observation during earthwork and foundation installation to verify that subsurface conditions were consistent with those defined during the geotechnical investigation. We remained on site throughout the project, providing construction monitoring of steel erection, concrete and earthwork aspects, as the last details were completed.
