When Syracuse University decided to renovate the legendary Carrier Dome, one of the key components was a rigging system that would support their scoreboard. They wanted a scoreboard that would provide a “wow factor” for their fans and players. With four sides that are each 62.5 feet wide and 20 feet tall, and a six-foot ribbon board running around the bottom on the interior, the new scoreboard is not just impressive, it is the second-largest indoor center-hung system in the United States and the third-largest in North America.
The team at the ETC Rigging Design Center took on the challenge of safely raising and lowering this enormous display, custom-designing two mechanically isolated, self-climbing hoists yielding a final total system lifting capacity of 160,000 lbs. The hoists are controlled via a custom dual-axis, electronically synchronized ETC Rigging control system to provide extreme accuracy in position control between the two hoists, ensuring that the scoreboard is level and well-balanced through its full travel distance.
“This is definitely the most significant system we’ve installed to date.” – Dave Rossi from Hoist Sales and Service.
The size of this scoreboard and the sprawling lift line locations required ETC engineering to think outside of the box and propose a non-traditional hoist layout. In this case, the drums of the hoist are parallel to one another instead of the traditional layout where they share the same axis. This allows for a more efficient distribution of torque over that distance. Due to the new roof design, this entire system is suspended via a wire rope system terminated to the steel structure above, which is equally unique.
You can read more about ETC rigging products at etcconnect.com