Roofing problems delay indoor arena

The latest problem is with this central truss supporting the arena's curved roof. Picture / Brett Phibbs

Problems dogging Auckland's new indoor arena worsened this week after a roofing safety issue forced most workers off the site and a spat broke out between parties involved in the $80 million venue.

In a series of events rapidly becoming like the problems at London's Wembley Stadium, the situation at Auckland's new 12,200-seat arena deteriorated and much of the work ground to a halt.

The stadium's opening, initially planned for last year, is now expected to be delayed until the end of August.

Cost blowouts, late delivery, material price rises, labour shortages and now bitter litigation has sparked open hostility between the parties involved.

The latest issue is a problem with a 210-tonne central truss supporting the arena's distinctive curved roof.

Structural problems with the gigantic beam this week forced dozens of workers off the project, already running at least six months behind schedule. The stadium's sweeping arched roof has been designed to hold up to 54 tonnes of lighting and sound equipment, enough to stage the world's biggest shows.

Roger Feast, area manager for builder Mainzeal Property and Construction, said changes were being made to the beam and the issue would be soon put to rights.

He said the change "follows the recommendations of its specialist structural engineering consultants that such work is prudent in light of new design guidelines shortly to be issued by the Heavy Engineering Research Association".

The association's director, Dr Wolfgang Scholz, said a technical review showed connections on the roof truss needed strengthening. The association was commissioned to make a structural engineering assessment and found Mainzeal's proposal was a "traditional design" which required changes, Dr Scholz said.

Workers who left the site on Thursday are expected to return on Monday.

Richard Yan, managing director and chief executive of Richina Pacific, which owns Mainzeal, could not say how much it would cost to resolve the problem, how many workers had left the site, nor how it affected the timetable.

But arena operator Kevin Jacobsen, of Jacobsen Venue Management, said instead of July, he had now been told the arena would be even later than expected and handover was due on August 31.

"I was surprised to hear about the roof and we're trying to establish if it will cause further delays," he said.

He could only pencil in entertainment and sporting bookings until problems were resolved but he said the string of issues never caused him to consider abandoning the project. "Never, never because it will be a wonderful venue - our biggest problem right now is the time delay," he said.

Mr Feast said extra work was being carried out this weekend and the full building team would return soon.

Jacobsen called for more information from Mainzeal and a spokesman said it was unhappy with the situation.

Trouble between the parties was inflamed this week when Mr Yan questioned Jacobsen's experience in developing arena venues and said Mainzeal was taking court action against the arena's designers.

But Mr Jacobsen and David Murphy, of Crawford Architects in the United States, which designed the arena, said they had a wealth of international experience in large entertainment venues.

Sydney-headquartered Jacobsen is Australia's largest concert and theatrical production company and it has the contract to build, own and operate the Vector Arena for 40 years.

Kansas-headquartered Crawford designed the arena and its partners regularly visited the project from the US, Mr Murphy said, although Crawford also had a Sydney office.

The pair had previously worked together on a number of large arenas, Mr Murphy said, including renovations of the Sydney Entertainment Centre and a large venue in Perth.

Crawfords said it would take court action to recover more than $1 million from Mainzeal "for payments owed for services rendered to the project that Mainzeal has not paid, and for other damages".

But a spokesman for Kevin Jacobsen said the entertainment boss was "pretty dismayed" that the firm's experience or knowledge about developing entertainment areas such as the arena had been questioned.

Mr Murphy said Crawford had developed 13 stadiums or arenas around the world and had never once had litigation on a job. It had designed venues in Australia, China, Japan, Poland, Russia, Brazil and Ireland.