Bolt failure caused collapse of WIN Stadium roof

More than two years after the roof of WIN Stadium's western grandstand collapsed, a NSW Government report into the incident and subsequent repairs has revealed the cause.

The Illawarra Mercury newspaper recently obtained and reported on a NSW Department of Public Works investigation into the causes of the roof of the newly constructed western grandstand buckling as a result of strong winds on the afternoon of 20th September 2011.

According to the report, the fault centred on one of the trusses at the southern end of the roof – one of a series of trusses in the roof, each of which features members that form the shape of a triangle.

The connected pieces forming the top of a truss are called the upper chord, and those forming the bottom of a truss are called the lower chord.

The report states that the cause of the failure were the two connections, each held with three M16 bolts, that attached a member (identified as TC4) at the upper chord.

The report stated "investigations concluded that member TC4 failed because the capacity of the bolted connection at the upper end had insufficient capacity to withstand the forces in member TC4 caused by 75-90km/h winds."

This force was greater than the bolts could handle, causing them to shear.

The report did not assign blame to any organisation but did state that under the contract signed between contractor Lipman Pty Ltd and the NSW Government that Lipman carried "responsibility for both design and construction of the works - and as such have responsibility for the design of both any temporary repair works and any long-term solutions".

Lipman appointed engineering firm Taylor Thomas Whitting to review the original design and provide advice on the redesign.

The NSW Government also appointed its own advisor to oversee the development of the redesign - Professor Nicholas Trahair, from the University of Sydney's School of Civil Engineering.

As part of the redesign, wind tunnel testing was undertaken and "was intended to cover all potential extreme wind scenarios".

The $31 million, 5,800-seat grandstand was opened in June 2012 raising WIN Stadium's capacity to over 23,000.

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