Miller Park Pivot Bearing Replacement or ``It May Not Be Able to Be Done—Let Us Think About It''

As the 2002 season was winding down for the Milwaukee Brewers Professional Baseball Team, the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District (SEWPBPD) expressed the desire to initiate a major off-season repair. After only two years of service, the pivot bearings of all five of the moveable roof panels of Miller Park Stadium supporting as much as 1,090,000 kg of steel and roofing required replacement. Provisions for the bearing replacement were never developed into the original stadium design. Tight quarters, severe time constraints and winter weather conditions needed to be overcome to fulfill the mission. These and other constraints presented a series of daunting challenges addressed by LZA Technology/TTE using a number of 3-D graphical simulation models and finite element assemblages for planning the replacement program. We will share this experience to serve as a case study reminding us of what is possible when we work as a team with other design professionals, contractors, and owners to achieve the ambitious.