The final steel beam was lifted last month to the top of SunTrust Park, completing a topping out ceremony that Atlanta Braves chairman and CEO Terry McGuirk called a “major milestone” in the building of the ballpark as the Braves prepare to move into their new home for the start of the 2017 MLB season.
The 33-ft-long beam, which also had an American flag and a tree mounted on it — an American Ironworkers tradition dating back to the 1930s — was placed 155 ft above the park’s yet-to-be completed playing surface, putting a cap on the approximately 6,800 tons of steel used on the project. Laid end-to-end, the steel would stretch for 50 miles. Hirschfeld Industries (an AISC Member and Certified fabricator) is the project’s steel fabricator.
The new stadium’s intimate setting of 41,500 seats is designed to maximize sightlines. The ballpark will feature three main decks with the middle and upper decks cantilevered over each lower deck to ensure all seats are closer to the action. It will also include an extensive canopy, approximately three times larger than most ballparks, along with several indoor spaces and clubs. For more about the project, visit http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/atl/ballpark/suntrust-park.
Image at right: Still image from the project’s construction webcam.