Quote:
Originally Posted by fenwick16
Although the first stage of a sunken stadium looks like a giant swimming pool, it is not really much different then sunken parking lots and buildings such as the Trillium (these are actually much deeper). These all need to be graded properly and have adequate drainage. I wonder if the rocky soil in the Halifax area is being overestimated as an obstacle. Many areas are shale which would be much easier to excavate than granite. There are long, wide excavated highways throughout the Halifax County and a depth of 21 feet really isn't that deep. To build a stadium from the ground up will also require excavation and leveling. To me, an ideal site would be one that is at a slight incline, with one end about 40 - 50 feet higher than the other. Then the excavated soil (which might be shale) wouldn't have to be trucked away; it would just be moved around the site. One end might be sunken and the other end might be at street level or even above street level.
Building on solid ground might even be cheaper than building on soft ground since solid ground won't require deep piles throughout the excavation site to support a huge stadium on soft ground. I would think that there would also be fewer problems with settling. Personally, I would prefer to have a home built on the shale around Halifax than on soft ground. I have a few cracks in my basement wall from my home settling on soft ground.
Whether an eventual stadium is sunken or built from the ground up will depend on the site selected. However, many new stadiums are being built with the lower level sunken (InfoCision Stadium in Akron, Hamilton's Pan-Am proposal, Winnipeg's new stadium, Ford Field in Detroit, the new Dallas Cowboy's stadium and many others). This cuts way down on stadium ramps required to funnel large numbers of people from high up in a stadium to exits. It also cuts down on exterior support structures.
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The stadium design as stated before I like....under ground parking lots have covered tops and directions for water to flow away from the building site....an open top stadium would not.
One other point is cost...ie: Winnipeg is looking at a combo shopping/office/ stadium in the hundreds of millions.......kind of a difficult comparison.
I would love to review the possible site around HRM to see whats available for purchase or already owned by the public purse. I do know of a private site of a quarry along the 102 that in my mind has great potential. Very similar to the location that someone else posted close to Bayers Lake Shopping district.
Anyway... I think we can spend way too much time on the design and sites at this point we all need to push for the public approval and political or private will to make this happen sooner rather than later.