Thirteen thousand additional Duck fans will pack the University of Oregon's stadium for the upcoming 2002 football season. With the superstructure finished this past April, the 88-million dollar addition and renovation to Autzen Stadium is nearing completion. Morse Bros. of Harrisburg, Oregon produced the precast concrete for the project with CEG serving as their specialty engineer.

Two significant challenges were encountered during the design, detailing, production, and construction phases of this project. The first challenge was providing precast concrete "Y-Columns" used to support precast raker beams. This proved to be one of the most architecturally impressive but structurally difficult facets of the project. Due to production, shipping, and erection concerns, these columns were designed and "match-cast" as two separate pieces to be joined in the field with splice sleeve connectors. The second challenge involved the precast raker beams themselves. Long beam lengths, some greater than 150-feet, were constructed with one, two, or three separate members. A structural requirement necessitated that these separate members behave as one beam so as to continuously transfer axial load. A post-tensioning system was used for this application, with as many as 27 strands, each 1/2-inch diameter, required for beams with the largest axial forces. CEG closely coordinated our work with Haris Engineering (Structural Engineer) and Ellerbe Becket (Architect) during the entire design phase of the project.

The need for accuracy combined with extreme tolerance limits at the intricate interface between "Y-Columns" and raker beams demanded that precast production be very precise. Morse Bros. met this challenge by producing outstanding products with near perfect fit-up.

How does one go about designing a structurally challenging but architecturally breathtaking stadium? One answer is by utilizing precast "Y-Columns" for support of precast raker beams. The second is by making the collaborative efforts between Morse Bros., CEG, Ellerbe Becket, and Haris Engineering the essential ingredient in producing a successful project.