The Telstraclear Pacific Events Centre is a very unique design with a very complex roof structure. To build a project of this nature requires considerable planning and a high degree of skills in detailing, fabrication and erection to achieve the accuracy that is required to make it work. When Mainzeal Construction chose us for the project, we were very pleased to take up this challenge. It was important for us to fabricate as much steel as possible off-site in a controlled workshop environment to maintain the high degree of accuracy required. As our workshop is relatively close to the site, we chose to fabricate assemblies within the limits of what we could transport, which meant we transported loads at night up to 13 metres wide and 12 metres high. In conjunction with Mainzeal, it was agreed that we would complete the Main Spine to the roof in a temporary position off to one side, to help speed up the programme and to avoid erecting at height over other construction activities. This therefore created another challenge in lifting and shifting a structure that is 140 metres long weighing approximately 150 tonnes into a final position. This will be done utilising large cranes and trucks with special fabricated support structures, and has been co-ordinated to happen on a specific day in July.

This lift is being touted as possibly the largest single lifted span in NZ history, something which Grayson Engineering Ltd is particularly proud to be associated with.