On \u201cSelection Sunday,\u201d the NCAA named teams from Duke, Gonzaga, North Carolina, Virginia, and other top-ranked schools to play in its 2019 Division I men\u2019s basketball tournament, known by most and loved by many as \u201cMarch Madness.\u201d\u00a0 Sixty-eight teams will play 67 games over three weeks before a national champion is crowned (somewhat ironically) in April.\u00a0 The tournament has come a long way since 1951 when for the first time 16 teams were chosen for the tournament (it had been only eight previously).\u00a0 That same year\u2014more than 68 years ago this spring\u2014Severud Associates was chosen to provide structural engineering for the Charlotte Coliseum in North Carolina, a venue that would eventually play host to 13 NCAA national tournaments.<\/p>\n
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The coliseum is a circular structure, 332 feet in diameter and 112 feet in height.\u00a0 Its roof is a free-spanning dome with a rise of 60 feet.\u00a0 At the time of its completion in 1955, it was believed to be the largest steel-framed dome in the world and the first roof of its type in the United States.\u00a0 A magazine ad by the steel contractor boasted that several U.S. Capitol domes could fit within the coliseum and yet despite its monumental size, the roof is relatively lightweight and inexpensive.\u00a0 Using a computer\u2014then a new technology\u2014engineers had optimized the dome\u2019s geometry to minimize the steel framing. \u00a0Their specification of all welded connections further reduced material quantities. \u00a0Overall, the roof uses only 970 tons of steel or about 22 pounds per sq. ft.\u00a0 In addition, no roof framing member is deeper than 18 inches, which accentuates the shell-like aspects of the dome.<\/p>\n
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The circular plan of the coliseum was chosen for simplicity, economy, and ease of construction.\u00a0 However, most of the building\u2019s intended uses\u2014basketball, hockey, equestrian events, and trade exhibitions\u2014require a rectangular layout.\u00a0 Although at first this might seem problematic for the seating configuration, analysis showed that linear seating aligned with the principal axes provided the highest number of desirable seats while the circular walls eliminated corner sections.\u00a0 This arrangement also allowed the use of standard precast concrete seating beams; only the uppermost beams required a unique geometry.\u00a0 The coliseum has fixed seating for up to 9,500 spectators with an additional 1,000 possible for smaller events, such as boxing matches.<\/p>\n
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Although a simple structure, architectural features of the coliseum result in an elegant appearance.\u00a0 Its ring of 48 concrete columns slope inward from the perimeter tension ring to the ground level, a geometry that reduces the building\u2019s apparent mass and protects the fa\u00e7ade from rain and the glare of sunlight.\u00a0 The sinusoidal intersection of the exterior walls and the top of the seating bowl is expressed on the fa\u00e7ade.\u00a0 Glass panels below this line reveal the open concourse level where suspended stairways lead to the upper vomitories.\u00a0 In 2009, the coliseum\u2019s exterior was designated an historical landmark by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission.<\/p>\n
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The coliseum\u2014now known as the Bojangles\u2019 Coliseum\u2014is part of a larger civic development located within a short drive of downtown Charlotte.\u00a0 The property is also home to the Ovens Auditorium, which was engineered by Severud Associates and built at the same time as the coliseum.\u00a0 A future third building, planned as an exhibition hall that would form a bridge between the coliseum and the auditorium, was never built.\u00a0 However, ground was broken recently on a new connector building that will add amenities for both existing buildings.<\/p>\n
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Throughout its history, Severud Associates has provided innovative and economical structural designs for many arenas and sports facilities, including Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, renovations of the Los Angeles Forum in Inglewood, California, and, most recently, the Kingsbridge National Ice Center, a redevelopment of the Eighth Regiment Armory in the Bronx, New York.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On \u201cSelection Sunday,\u201d the NCAA named teams from Duke, Gonzaga, North Carolina, Virginia, and other top-ranked schools to play in its 2019 Division I men\u2019s basketball tournament, known by most and loved by many as \u201cMarch Madness.\u201d\u00a0 Sixty-eight teams will play 67 games over three weeks before a national champion is crowned (somewhat ironically) in … Continue reading “Charlotte Coliseum”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5196"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5196"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5989,"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5196\/revisions\/5989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}