Safety the goal for FIFA stadium light towers in Port Moresby

As sporting grounds globally seek better lighting for international and daynight matches, close attention is being paid to ensuring the safety of these tall and heavy structures.

One of the essential elements of enduring stability during buffeting by high winds and storms is even bolt torqueing of the fasteners that secure lighting towers to the base. As with bolts used to secure key infrastructure such as offshore drilling rigs and onshore mining and industrial plant, these bolts must be tightened to precise and equal tensions to deliver the top reliability expected in workplaces and public spaces.

With safety in mind, L& A Construction has used Enerpac bolting technology to precisely and evenly bolt down the eight main lighting towers in two PNG stadiums used first for Women’s U20 FIFA World Cup, which kicked off in Port Moresby in November 2016.

The Bava stadium and the PNG Football stadium (PNGFS) both have four 35m lighting towers, which needed their foundation bolts to be firmly secured to maintain their upright position under diverse tropical conditions. The 18 x 56mm base studs were bolted with 9500Nm of torque using an Enerpac S-Series S11000 torque wrench, supplied by Bishops Port Moresby. These are from the same Enerpac professional bolting ranges used globally on some of the world’s biggest building and infrastructure projects.

The Enerpac S11000 torque wrench was actuated by a ZU4 torque wrench pump and utilised a THQ706T 6m hose and BSH1585 11/2” drive with 85mm socket, all supplied through Bishops.

Antony Smith from Bishops Port Moresby said the Enerpac gear was ideal because it provided speed and accuracy as well as traceable bolt loads. “The large nut rotation per wrench cycle and rapid return stroke of the S-Series makes the job particularly efficient,” he said.

“Enerpac ZU4 pumps are ideally suited for use with torque wrenches, and use a powerful 1.7 hp universal electric motor, which gives a high power-to-weight ratio and excellent low-voltage operating characteristics. It was the first time PNG had hosted such a major international sporting event, so it was very important to everyone that the facilities were safe and ready for the event,” he said.