Discrepancies between what was designed and what was built threatened to derail the construction of a professional soccer stadium in Cincinnati.
Fortunately, GPRS' 3D laser scanning services helped the project team address the problem before it led to costly delays and downtime.
In 2019, we were hired by a subcontractor working on the construction of TQL Stadium, the first permanent home for Major League Soccer’s FC Cincinnati.
The 518,000-square-foot arena located in Cincinnati’s West End neighborhood is an open-air, soccer-specific stadium that seats 26,000 fans and features a two-story, 9,000-square-foot club shop, 53 suites, and four premium club areas.
The subcontractor who hired us specializes in the design, fabrication, and installation of large-scale exterior signage. They wanted to verify the centerlines of the structural steel framework on which their signs would be fitted. All signage components would be manufactured off site, so it was important to have accurate as built conditions of the structural steel.
While the subcontractor has their own laser scanning capabilities, they chose to turn to GPRS to provide 3D laser scanning services to capture point cloud data of the structural steel and align it to their existing 3D model.
We have a long history of working in and around arenas and stadiums to improve the fan experience, and our reputation for providing hyper-accurate results on these projects is what led the subcontractor to hire us.
“GPRS’ Laser Scanning Division has scanned more than 20 NFL, MLS, and college stadiums across the country, including TQL Stadium in Cincinnati,” explained GPRS 3D Laser Scanning Service Line Leader, Nate Baker. “The contractors and designers we work with appreciate our efficient and accurate data collection on site.”
A point cloud is the set of 3D data points captured by a laser scanner. It contains the X, Y, and Z coordinates of every visible detail of the project site, represented in digital form as a pixelated model of the location.
Point cloud data is imported into CAD software, where it can be parsed, manipulated, and modified to aid in visualization, design, engineering, and construction projects.
In Cincinnati, our Project Manager used the Leica P50 ScanStation to scan all the steel members of the stadium in a matter of hours. They scanned from the main concourse, creating a point cloud that captured the exact dimensions of the stadium’s structural steel. And they did this without disrupting the ongoing construction work at the site.
“Most stadiums are scanned in under one day on site, and the resulting 3D models are accurate to one-quarter inch or better,” Baker said. “Whether steel is going up, screens are getting updates, or virtual reality graphics are being developed, GPRS is relied upon for our accurate as builts, as well as our experience in capturing stadiums and arenas nationwide.”
Upon reviewing the data that GPRS provided, our client noticed that the steel on the north and south ends of the stadium did not align with what their design plans specified.
Our client was able to take this information to the project’s general contractor so that the discrepancies in the areas of concern could be corrected. GPRS was called back in to rescan the stadium once the changes were made to ensure that the structural members sat within an acceptable tolerance.
On Sept. 30, 2023, FC Cincinnati won the Supporters’ Shield, the award given out annually to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record.
It’s the club’s first trophy since joining the league in 2019, and it also guarantees that they will host at least one match when the MLS Playoffs begin at the end of October.
This will be the first postseason soccer played at TQL Stadium, which in December 2022 was named one of the top sports venues in the world by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). That same month, it also earned the American Sports Builders Association (ASBA) Single Field Facility of the Year award. And earlier in 2022, it was named the Best Venue at the 2022 World Football Summit in Madrid.
GPRS was proud to help bring this award-winning venue to life. We Intelligently Visualizes The Built World™ above and below ground as the leading provider of accurate and creative 3D laser scanning solutions for the construction, architecture, and engineering industries. We provide accurate as builts, point clouds, maps, CAD drawings, and 3D models for a variety of industries, including engineering, oil & gas, multimedia & entertainment, historical preservation, and stadiums & theaters.
Our elite team of Project Managers are armed with state-of-the-art technology to visualize your facility from top to bottom - and beyond! And our Mapping & Modeling team can take the data collected on site and package it to suit your needs to ensure you have all the information you need to get the job done right, and keep your project on time, on budget, and safe.
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