Geodis Park

Located at the historic Nashville Fairgrounds in Nashville, Tennessee, Geodis Park has the capacity to accommodate up to 30,000 fans. Home to the Nashville SC, the stadium was built in time to coincide with the team’s third season in the MLS (Major League Soccer) and is the largest stadium dedicated to soccer in the United States and Canada.

The venue is designed with four distinct stands, in keeping with the traditional European design of soccer stadiums. Geodis Park boasts a large, 360-degree canopy supported by slender steel columns and a large, signature X-frame at the back. The canopy extends in two directions in all four corners, providing a protected and dynamic entry feature.

The last row of seats is only 150 feet from the touchline, which allows fans to always be close to the action.

DBM Vircon’s Scope of Work

DBM Vircon was engaged by Walter P Moore to provide a fully connected model of the structural steel at LOD400. Two parts were to be delivered, each containing half of the stadium’s steel. The model was developed almost simultaneously with the connections. The DBM Vircon team was also heavily involved in the coordination of elements affecting the steel members, such as precast concrete stadiums and determining the different paint requirements.

Additionally, DBM Vircon also provided all structural steelwork shop drawings for LeJeune Steel Company.

The scope of the work included the location of precast stadiums and joists, elevators, sports lighting, MEP support frames, and holes for canopy banners, arrest posts, and lightning masts.

Project Highlights & Challenges:

• Despite multiple stakeholders, the teams worked to make sure all schedule dates were met or exceeded. Meetings were held regularly, sometimes every day, to clarify or gather more information regarding any items we needed clarification on.
• Due to the large amount of exposed steel, it was imperative that bolts were installed uniformly. The bolts were continually checked to ensure they could be accessed and tightened when orientated as needed, and some connections details were revised accordingly.
• The project was completed seven weeks ahead of schedule, with the steel erection being complete four weeks ahead of schedule.