New Highmark Stadium

overview

Being constructed across the street from the original 1973 stadium for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), the New Highmark Stadium will offer 62,000 seats and is slated to be open in time for the 2026 season. 

We are providing Advanced Project Delivery ™ (APD) services to Turner Construction on the new Buffalo Bills stadium. Our advanced project deliverables include connection design, a Phase I Tekla model (advanced bill of materials model) and a Phase II Tekla model (connected Tekla model). The 23,000 tons of steel were divided into ten separate deliverables and given to the fabricator in the order of erection. 

Highlights 

• Our in-house R&D team, CORE Studio, designed a Tekla Structures plugin that automatically models steel connections for medium- to large-framed structures such as this one.
• All modeling was performed using Tekla’s shared model environment, which facilitates collaboration and review across multiple disciplines. Once an area is released, the fabricator can begin preparing the shop drawings while we continue with connection design and modeling for the next area.
• We began connection design and modeling prior to the construction documents being issued and a fabricator being selected. We provided early connection concepts to all steel fabricators during the bidding process to illustrate complexity and ensure cost certainty.
• Due to the fast-paced steel schedule, close coordination with the engineer of record, architect, general contractor and fabricator/erector were essential.
• Key features of the stadium include a 360-degree main canopy and a colonnade that wraps around the perimeter. The roof canopy is a propped cantilever system that features a wide flange girder supported by a jumbo HSS strut at each grid line. The perimeter colonnade is constructed using HSS columns, HSS outriggers, and HSS infill girts.