Communication, partnership deliver roof reconstruction for Winthrop University Coliseum

Client

A&E Services/Winthrop University

Location

Rock Hill, S.C.

Challenge

For more than 20 years, we partnered with our client to extend the life of Winthrop University’s Coliseum roof, which protects the school’s 6,100-seat athletic and special events arena. After years of patching, Winthrop chose to continue its partnership with Terracon to upgrade the roof.

Several challenges presented themselves. First, the project had a short demolition window of just two months, during which the Coliseum had to be contained, but not closed. Second, the project occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted national and global supply chains for construction materials, leading to availability shortages and price fluctuations. The contractor couldn’t hold consistent pricing, which meant ongoing budget discussions.

There were also several leaking skylights, which were so dirty many Winthrop staff didn’t even know they existed. 

Finally, Terracon’s samplings of roofing components revealed asbestos, which required special monitoring for air quality monitoring during removal from our industrial hygiene (IH) specialists. 

Following the initial investigation, we prepared a plan to remove approximately 52,500 square feet of the old roofing system, including the original roof drains, install a new roofing system, and design new structural support to anchor new antennas.

Solution

To keep the project on schedule, our team worked on-site nearly 24 hours a day, with demolition occurring at night and installation up to the temporary roof during the day to complete the disruptive phase of the work within the critical time schedule. The roof insulation and membrane were installed in a phased approach once the temporary roof was completed.

To address the continuous rounds of budget fluctuations due to the pandemic, we engaged the office of the state engineer and kept in continued communications through meetings and budget coordination. Our existing strong relationship helped keep the communication going.

“Because we had such a strong relationship with [the client] and communicated constantly, they trusted we were doing everything we could to bring the pricing issue to closure … when they needed something, we were on it,” said Vu Nguyen, senior project manager.

To replace the skylights, our in-house structural team handled the framing and structural aspects, while our industrial hygiene group worked on abatement specifications. That way, Winthrop University didn’t have to take on the time-consuming process of hiring and overseeing separate contractors.

Our IH team monitored the demolition portion to ensure the asbestos was properly disposed of and monitored air quality throughout the project.

Results

Our team not only extended the coliseum roof’s life by 20 years prior to demolition and upgrade, but they completed the demolition on a restrictive schedule and without compromising budget despite constantly fluctuating construction material prices.

The roofing system installation was highly successful, with no issues related to asbestos containment or leaks during the roofing work, and the building events and daily operations were not impacted during the project.