Note: While great efforts have been taken to provide accurate and complete information on the pages of CPEP, please be aware that the information contained herewith is considered a work‐in‐progress for this thesis project. Modifications and changes related to the original building designs and construction methodologies for this senior thesis project are solely the interpretation of Matthew Moore. Changes and discrepancies in no way imply that the original design contained errors or was flawed. Differing assumptions, code references, requirements, and methodologies have been incorporated into this thesis project; therefore, investigation results may vary from the original design.
 

 

 
Building Statistics

Part 1:

General Building Data:

  • Building Name – The Washington Nationals Ballpark
  • Location and site – 24 Potomac Ave SE, Washington DC 20003  on a 26 acre plot
  • Function – A Major League Baseball Ballpark
  • Occupancy Team – Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals Baseball Team
  • Total project cost – $611 million (includes all design fees, legal fees, land procurement, new and improved public infrastructure, etc.)
  • Size/Number of Stories – 1.2 million square feet including the team offices, ground floor of north garages spaces (not parking deck). 7 stories of interior spaces inside the ballpark, 6 above grade with an additional 3 story office building attachment. The stadium seating will hold 41,000 fans.
  • Dates of construction – June 2006 through Est. date of completion April 2008
  • Project delivery method – Fast-tracked design-build.

Primary Project Team:

  • Code Consultants – Howie Engineers

Architecture:

  • Architecture – The ballpark is an open concourse baseball stadium with conditioned premium spaces.
  • Major national model codes – International Building Code 2003 (incl. ANSI) supplemented by ADAAG
  • Building Type – Building type is Assembly, A2
  • Historical requirements – N/A

Part 2:

Demolition

  • It was necessary for the demolition of buildings located on site before the construction could begin. The ballpark is located in the South East of Washington, DC, where they are trying to revitalize the area around the ballpark. The entire surrounding areas are all going to be demolished and rebuilt in hopes that it will renew the area. It is effectively named “The Ballpark District” which is going to be a mixed use community that features shops, restaurants, entertainment venues, offices, hotels, and apartments.

Support of Excavation

  • A free draining sheeting systems, which consists of H Beams, wood lagging and bracing, was used for excavation support.  All excavations were within code from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and in accordance with the District of Columbia and Federals regulations for supporting the excavation.

Structural Steel Framing

  • The structural steel is unique because it is only located in the structures above the Club Level as well as in the scoreboard in the right field. All of the rolled shapes excluding angles and channels shall conform to ASTM A992 or A572, Grade 50 steel. The connection materials are conformed to ASTM A36 steel. The metal decking is composed of 3” 18 gage type VL.

Cast in Place Concrete

  • Cast in place concrete is used for the foundation and SOG. The SOG is 6” thick with reinforced WWF which is on top of a drainage layer made of washed gravel and crushed stone. There are also foundation walls on the services level that are cast in place concrete, which are to  be 18” thick min. The retaining walls on the service level are 24” min to support the backfill pressure. They are all vertically formed by formwork and are required to have a design strength of 5000 psi after 28 days.

Precast Concrete

  • Precast concrete is mainly used for the seating bowl of the stadium. They are precast, pre-stressed with 6” thick risers and 4” thick treads that are formed offsite. The precast seating will have an average thickness of 5.5” and are reinforced to 1.5 psf.

Masonry and Curtain Wall

  • The ballpark consists of pre-cast concrete with masonry back-up curtain wall and storefront glazing systems, as well as metal panels with masonry back-up. There are single wythe running bond CMU with rebar that are filled cell for support. The roofing systems are made up of a combination of many types including a parapeted built-up roof with scupper and leader drainage, and some sheet metal decking with scupper and leader drainage.

Mechanical System

  • The mechanical system is designed for a peak cooling load of 2000 tons. It has (2) 800 ton water cooled chillers for the on peak loads and (1) 400 ton water cooled chiller for the off peak loads. The cooling loads were designed with an outside temperature of 95o F dB and 76 o F Wb, and with an inside temperature of 72 o F +/- 3 o F. Humidity will not be added to any of the enclosed spaces and it will be kept under 60% at all times. The premium spaces will have variable air volume air handling units with VAV Boxes for control. For the heating loads there will be (2) 12500 AMBH output, natural gas fired, forced draft hot water boilers.   

Electrical System

  • The electrical system has (3) 13.2 kV circuit feeders that are provided from the Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) that will supply the ballpark. The main switchgear feeds the step-down transformers that support a 4160 volt network bus switchgear that are distributed throughout the ballpark. There are unit substations have dry type transformers rated for 28500/3330 kVA, 4, 160 volt, 3-phase delta primary and a 480/277 volt wye secondary. The transformers feed a 400 amp switch board rated for 277/480 volt, 3 phase, 4-wire. There is also an emergency power system that has generators that will provide 1000 kW and 1250kW in the case of a power failure. The generators will provide back up for the building egress lighting, seating bowl emergency lighting, fire alarm systems, security systems, fire department communication, emergency sound system and fire pump systems.  

 

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  This page was last updated on November 5, 2007 by Matthew Moore and is hosted by the AE Department ©2007