GamblersGrin Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 i dunno about these genius.' theres going to be a story in the future of mass casualaties. this cant be safe. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-stadium3007nov30,0,4754238.story?coll=orl_tab01_layout Jumpy fans worry UCF, but officials call stadium safe Some frenzied football fans at the University of Central Florida are calling their new stadium "The Trampoline" -- and treating it like one. Fans have discovered they can make the upper deck bounce by jumping up and down at once. Their cue to go crazy: the techno-pop dance beat of Zombie Nation's Kernkraft 400. "It's fun!" sophomore Michelle Martin says of the bouncing sensation that resulted in the trampoline nickname. School officials say the stadium is structurally safe and ready for a capacity crowd Saturday when UCF takes on the University of Tulsa for the Conference USA championship. University officials noticed the movement during the stadium's inaugural game in September against the University of Texas, said William Merck, vice president of administration and finance, who oversees campus construction. He said the motion caught them off guard, but that visual and electronic monitoring since the first game has revealed no damage. Engineers say there's nothing unusual about stadiums and even skyscrapers having some wiggle room. They're designed for a certain amount of movement. Still, the motion has unnerved some fans, and it has UCF officials wondering whether all that bouncing will eventually damage the 45,000-seat, $54 million steel structure. "I've been to a lot of stadiums, and I've never seen one rock back and forth like that," said Tom Di Figlio of Delray Beach, a former UCF employee whose first visit to Bright House Networks Stadium was last week's game against the University of Texas at El Paso. "Maybe it's designed like that, but I think they ought to be careful." While university officials express full confidence in their stadium, they are concerned about whether the fans' bouncing will shorten its estimated 50-year-plus life span. The university has asked civil engineers to help UCF's building experts analyze the data they're collecting and decide by mid-January whether the stadium needs to be reinforced or left as is. Officials already have taken one step. They decided midway through the season to limit how often the Zombie Nation tune is played over the public-address system "to address the uneasiness some fans may have," said Joe Hornstein, UCF Athletics Association spokesman. The current limit is four times per game, but Merck said the university will consider banning it outright. What's happening at UCF is "not an extraordinary condition," said Prasad Samarajiva, a civil and structural engineer with Walter P. Moore. The Houston-based engineering firm was not involved with UCF's stadium but has a large portfolio of stadiums and other buildings. Nearly two decades ago, students at the University of South Carolina -- revved up by "Louie, Louie" -- found they could get a 15,000-seat deck of Williams-Brice Stadium to sway. The school determined the deck was safe but discussed banning the song to keep the swaying down. Instead, the school spent about $300,000 to install reinforcements to stop the motion, said Russ McKinney, university spokesman. Students at UCF said they want bouncing to become a tradition. "Everyone seems more than happy with the stadium with zero concerns of safety," said Adam Papageorgiu, a UCF sophomore whose phone-cam video of the stadium bouncing was posted on YouTube under the title "The Trampoline." Papageorgiu said fans have been bouncing to the Zombie Nation song since the stadium's debut game against Texas. "I was immediately concerned about how the stadium almost felt like it was giving out beneath my feet," he wrote in an e-mail. "My friends began to look worried. . . . I got quickly used to it though." UCF senior Steve Adams, who was buying his game ticket at the stadium this week, said steel structures such as Bright House Networks Stadium are "designed to take lots of stress." Added the mechanical-engineering student, "If I had no idea about this stuff, I would worry too." Paul Jehlen, another engineering student, joked that parents are more likely than students to worry. All major stadiums in the U.S. are designed using the same basic structural principles, said Bruce Merrick, chairman of Dant Clayton, the engineering firm for UCF's stadium. "There's noticeable movement," he said, but tests so far show the building is "performing in accordance with Florida building codes." The stadium's design firm, 360 Architecture, did not return phone calls. Noticeable shaking or swaying can happen in any stadium given the right circumstances, said Charlie Carter, chief structural engineer for the Chicago-based American Institute of Steel Construction. The nonprofit institute and trade association develops the standards used in building codes for steel structures such as UCF's stadium. Many people are unnerved when stadiums sway because the movement is unexpected and often unpredictable. Movement depends on a certain number of people moving in a certain way for a certain amount of time. Stadiums in general are "pretty strong" structures, Carter said, and metal fatigue is not a major concern for owners of newer stadiums because "it takes a long time to manifest." "It's not a problem that develops one day to the next," he said. Vibrations caused by groups of people making synchronized movements have been known to damage structures, Carter said. In London, for instance, a pedestrian bridge across the river Thames was closed not long after it opened in 2000 because the movement of so many people crossing it made the bridge sway. It was closed, modified and later reopened. But stadiums have more in common with buildings than bridges, he said, making the effect of vibrations on them more complicated. In the absence of safety concerns, many stadium-movement issues become "purely a human-comfort and perception-of-motion issue," he said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metronome Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Re: the second level of a football stadium bounces like a trampoline. would you jump on it we need video footage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
En Sabah Nur Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Re: the second level of a football stadium bounces like a trampoline. would you jump on it all those videos suck. and those kids in the interviews are dummmm. college is for idiots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metronome Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Re: the second level of a football stadium bounces like a trampoline. would you jump on it true. the video footage was really dissappointing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrUnKpUnCh Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Re: the second level of a football stadium bounces like a trampoline. would you jump on it I HOPE THEY ALL FALL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire15 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Re: the second level of a football stadium bounces like a trampoline. would you jump on it UCF is full of retards or people using it as a stepping stone to bigger colleges. This story has all the retards in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~KRYLON2~ Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Re: the second level of a football stadium bounces like a trampoline. would you jump on it fuck florida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SayOne Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Re: the second level of a football stadium bounces like a trampoline. would you jump on it i see that damn stadium every day, shit looks flimsy and there first game there, which they lost, mad heads passed out from heat exhaustion because they had no water fountains and shit. now they give you a free bottle of water when you come to see a game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
After School Special Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Re: the second level of a football stadium bounces like a trampoline. would you jump on it I found the video The Trampoline: UCF-UTEP Football It sucks. I hate that song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellow Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Re: the second level of a football stadium bounces like a trampoline. would you jump on it this needs a poll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Mask Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Re: the second level of a football stadium bounces like a trampoline. would you jump on it you cant see anything in that video. the only bouncing is happening cause the idiot filming it on his cell phone is hopping up and down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overtime Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Re: the second level of a football stadium bounces like a trampoline. would you jump on it yea, what a suck ass video, man, suckass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatetown Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Re: the second level of a football stadium bounces like a trampoline. would you jump on it oontz oontz oontz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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