In 2013 RBI had the good fortune to work with the Crossfit Regionals in West Palm Beach Florida. The event went great and the client was very happy with the temporary bleachers that were provided. Due to the success of the event the client provided us the opportunity to provide rental bleachers for the 2015 Regionals in both Atlanta Georgia as well as Minneapolis MInnesota. Both events presented unique challenges and layout difficulties however the end result at each event was a tremendous success.
As with any event the process starts with loading and shipping from our warehouse in Zephyrhills Florida. The Atlanta event was the first of the two projects and required a total of (3) trucks and trailers for the shipping of the materials. Each load containing different portions of the project to allow for an easier unloading and installation process once on site with the crews. Shipping is a critical part of the process because if the loads are late in delivery the installation time can be greatly affected, and when working on time sensitive events that is not an easy problem to solve. That is why RBI uses the best available equipment for delivery of our products.
Once on-site in Atlanta the layout process can begin. This project was located inside the World Congress Center and on large events like this access inside the facility for the trucks and trailers to unload is required to meet the installation deadlines. This project had a 4 day installation time schedule however the installation was completed in 3 days on site. It is critical to layout the materials properly so that once the bleachers are installed the other vendors can properly fit the additional equipment into the facility to meet the design requirements. If the bleachers are not properly laid out the entire competition floor could be incorrect.
The Atlanta event used a total of 400 LF of 15 row aluminum angle frame bleachers for a total seating of around 3400 in the stands. This event also had a unique situation with a concrete column where we had to build the center section as a 10 row unit in order to “wrap” the bleachers for a continuous section. This was a detail that had been discussed prior to arrival and was a part of the design phase of the event. During the design and contract phase of the project RBI provides the client with “sealed” engineered drawings for the bleachers so they may acquire any permits needed for the project or present them to the facility during inspections.
After the installation is completed the bleachers looked amazing for the event. The total time frame on this project was 3 days for installation with an extra day not used plus 3 days for the rental and 2 days for removal for a total of 9 days.
The bleacher shown in this image is just (1) of the 5 total sections that were installed for use. It is a 15row high x 105’ long section seating around 900 @ 18” per seat. The unit is fully compliant to meet ICC 2000, NFPA, and FBC.
After the removal process is completed and the trucks and trailers were re-loaded, the materials were shipped from Atlanta Georgia to MInneapolis Minnesota. This is the farthest location to date the RBI has provided seating from our Central Florida location.
Because the client used the same bleacher materials with very few modifications to the layout, we were able to ship direct from one event to the other. Once on site in MN the process begins again from the layout phase all the way to the completion of the installation. At this event they requested (1) longer 147’ long 15 row bleacher section as the main side-line unit. The total seating for this unit is around 1250 +/-. For a total event bleacher seating of 3,200 people.
After the removal of the temporary bleachers in Minneapolis, the journey back to Florida can begin. The total miles home are around 1800 which made for a pretty long ride but once we got it all back into the shop the experience of the events was a great one. We hope that in 2016 the client will give us the opportunity to provide quality aluminum event seating for the events and we will once again deliver our products to make for an amazing event.
