Constructed in 1903, Pennsylvania State University’s Franklin Field is one of the oldest stadiums in the United States. Throughout the stadium’s 100+ year life span, it has hosted a variety of sporting events, including being the home field to the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles until 1970. Since its original construction, there had been very few renovations, causing major deterioration and structural issues. The owner developed a comprehensive repair program to address the issues, which would span over numerous phases, taking several years to complete.

PULLMAN was hired to perform the restoration scope of work during phases two and three. The project start date was delayed accommodating two major events: Penn Relays and graduation commencement, which are both held on Franklin Field every year. This delay put time constraints on the work schedule and provided a 6-7 month window to complete the restoration scope before the temperature dropped below the recommended material installation requirements.

The scope of work included concrete restoration and repairs, removal and reinstalling bleachers, expansion joint replacement, coring and installing cathodic protection, adding shear transfer plates, traffic waterproofing membrane installation, and application of an underside mineral based coating.

With a structure as old as this, there were many unforeseen conditions, such as extensive concrete deterioration. These additional conditions led to the project team finding more efficient and safe solutions that were not in the original scope. Crews discovered the thin concrete slabs while coring for the cathodic protection anodes, which resulted in blow throughs. The project team resolved this issue by working with the engineer and manufacturer to create thinner anodes to fit in the existing slab thickness.

Safety was a top priority for the team because the stadium remained open and accessible to students, athletes, and other organizations during the repairs. The team worked with the owner to create minimal impact during events and home football games.

Being in an outdoor stadium, repairs on the upper section left the crew completely exposed to all weather elements. Since the weather consistently changed, PULLMAN monitored it daily to ensure worker safety.

These two phases of the project were finished on schedule and budget. It was complete in over 37,000 hours and with no OSHA recordable or serious safety incidents.