Kristian service trucks can usually be found on site at industrial businesses. May it be at a manufacturing facility, a potash mine, a factory and even an airport, however, from time to time we take on a job at more unique and surprising venues.
Last year we serviced not one but two professional sporting stadiums.
In April of 2018, Kristian was enlisted by The City of Edmonton to undertake the replacement of support cables at Commonwealth Stadium, the home of the Edmonton Eskimo’s CFL team. As Canada’s second largest outdoor sports venue, this was going to be no small task.
Most stadiums utilize an end-zone scoreboard loudspeaker system, however in an effort to reduce noise to the surrounding neighbourhoods, the Commonwealth speaker system was designed as a central loudspeaker supported by wire rope cables, and suspended directly above the center field of the stadium.
After carefully lowering the speaker on to the bed of an awaiting semi truck, so as not to damage the turf, the wire rope support cables were then removed and replaced. Once the new cables were in place, the speaker was re-suspended over the field. However, doing this is a bit of an art form. The speaker must be raised in perfect symmetry between the winches that hold it in the air. If they come out of this symmetry it would cause the speaker to twist and even flip over, which would create a catastrophic failure of the entire cable system and cause the speaker to fall to the turf below. However, with a carefully calculated process, the Kristian techs were able to both lower and re-raise the system perfectly. Once re-suspended, our techs preformed a thorough inspection on the new wire rope cables, making sure there were no defective areas, as well as the winch systems that hold the speaker in place, to ensure their full working status.
In May of 2018, the Kristian Edmonton Crane Service department spent a day servicing 6 wire rope hoists at the former home of the Edmonton Oilers; Northlands Coliseum. These 6 hoists are currently used to hold up the 20+ Ton JumboTron. Though the coliseum is slated for possible demolition, until there is a formal determination of the building’s future, the hoists continue to need their proper inspections.
Our techs accessed the myriad of catwalks high above the nosebleed seats and slowly lowered the large screen video display to the cement rink floor.
Once the JumboTron was safely secured and fortified on the ground, the techs got to work on the hoists. Diligently checking every component and function for wear and damage, and replacing the necessary parts. Once each hoist was inspected, repaired and signed off on, the JumboTron was once again hoisted back into its position in the Coliseum rafters.
Though we take our tasks seriously and complete the job at hand properly, there is always something a little extra about working in venues of these type. For example, while on site for the Northlands job, our techs stumbled across an old cinder block wall autographed by some of the NHL’s biggest legends. From Yzerman, to Messier and even The Great One himself, we feel honored to be so close to a bit of sporting history.
