Working with London Stadium for 6 months in East London
Built for the 2012 London Olympics, London Stadium requires ongoing inspection and maintenance to preserve its iconic appearance. CAN carried out specialist inspection and maintenance works, helping protect the exposed steelwork while the stadium remained fully operational.
Rope-access-trained infrastructure inspectors have been working at height, surveying the 3 of the iconic London Stadium on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Built for the 2012 London Olympics, the stadium underwent inspections that saw engineers study the paint work for defects and carry out cleaning maintenance.
Accessing the external façade and roof structure from mobile elevating working platforms (MEWP) with a 50-metre extension range, the team of 13 from CAN, an RSK Group company, carried out the assessments while the stadium remained in operation.
CAN Project Manager Louis Thomas said: “London Stadium is an iconic venue and has great visual impact with its brilliant white structural steel design. On any infrastructure or building that has exposed steel work, like the stadium has on its perimeter, regular monitoring on the steel condition and that of the paint work is critical.
“A team of six rope access specialists and six elevated platform technicians inspected and cleaned more than four miles of steel across the stadium structure, a surface area of around 8500 m². The condition of the paint is an important part of maintaining the steel – it not only looks great from an aesthetic point of view but also serves to prevent corrosion. Where the team identified defects in the paint, this was cleaned and corrected to avoid potential corrosion.”
The outer areas of the stadium were accessible by an elevated platform extending to 50 metres up. However, some areas were unsuitable for this method of access, Louis explained. “Due to different floor construction across the stadium, there were weight restrictions in place in some areas, which prevented the elevated platform team from gaining access in this way. For these areas, a rope team accessed the roof structure, setting up and anchoring from the roof steelwork itself.
“The usual abseiling-down approach taken by the Industrial Rope Access Training Association (IRATA) qualified team was not an option, as the metal structure that needed accessing sat above the stadium’s roofline. CAN’s technicians first sent ropes over the top, climbed up the steel structure, and then manoeuvred between structural bays along horizontal tensioned ropes and spansets ratchet strap anchoring systems to carry out the work.”
Louis said: “The cleaning approach evolved as the project progressed. It became apparent that the original plan of hand cleaning was not practical from a time management perspective. With a set window to carry out the work, we needed something that was time efficient but also delicate enough not to cause damage. Jet washers were effective for this, and it was possible to use integrated water bowser, pressure washer and generator units in combination with the elevated platform set-up to reach all areas.”
