The Cincinnati Bengals have entered the 21st Century in dramatic fashion with the opening of Paul Brown Stadium. Named for pro football Hall of Famer and NFL patriarch Paul Brown, the $453M stadium is a major component of Cincinnati's "Rebirth of the Riverfront". The stadium, along with a new home for the Reds, will "bookend" the cities riverfront revitalization. This new chapter in Cincinnati Bengals history kicked off on August 19, 2000 with an exhibition game between the Bengals and our own Chicago Bears.

The Consulting Engineers Group began their work on the stadium in September of 1998, less than two full years prior to the opening. After contracting with Metromont Prestress Corporation of Greenville, SC, CEG began the massive undertaking of detailing the precast concrete components for the job. By far the largest stadium project to date for CEG, the job required over 5,000 separate drawings to complete the work. These drawings included 320 structural erection drawings, 1252 details, and over 3,600 individual precast production drawings.

Erection of the precast began in December of 1998, less than three months after CEG began its work. Staffing requirements peaked in the Spring of 1999, with a crew of ten who were not only developing the remaining erection drawings but also feeding five Metromont plants with production tickets.

Besides the shear overwhelming quantity of drawings required to complete the job, the stadium provided an opportunity for CEG to solve some unique problems. For instance, approximately 500 precast strut beams were used on the concourse levels and were required to resist axial loads of up to 425 kips, three precast bridges connected concourse areas and party decks, and a late design change to accommodate a soccer field configuration required changes to the basic stadium geometry and seating bowl.

The culmination of CEG's fifteen month detailing effort, as well as the work of 595 other companies, is truly a state of the art facility. The 65,600 seat futuristic design places nearly 70 percent of all seating along the sidelines, with the open-ended bowl providing stunning views of the riverfront and Cincinnati skyline. The stadium also features 7,600 club seats, 114 suites, state of the art audio/visual systems & scoreboards, wider seats than typical stadiums and a heated natural grass playing surface. A great way for both the Bengals and CEG to enter the 21st century.