The Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is one of the most well-known football stadiums in college football. With a total seating capacity of 82,112, the stadium ranks among the 15 largest on-campus facilities nationwide.
For years, the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium has struggled with moisture intrusion specifically at expansion joint locations throughout the bowl. Multiple attempts to retrofit and repair these conditions have been made over the years. This evolved into an annual maintenance item for the university and created unnecessary repairs.
Chamberlin was selected to find a permanent solution for the expansion joints and ultimately stop the leaks. Additionally, their scope for the stadium renovation included structural concrete repairs, crystalline waterproofing, epoxy injection, joint sealants, extending concrete steps for widened aisles and adding intermediate steps to the east side of the stadium. Chamberlin used carbon fiber reinforcement (FRP) to repair and reinforce support beams under the stadium allowing them to withstand more force to increase the lifespan of the stadium. The traffic coating on the north, west and east sides of the stadium bowl was removed and replaced. Bentonite waterproofing was installed at the below grade walls where new concessions were built under the north endzone.
When structural concrete repairs were completed, Chamberlin conducted a sounding test to ensure its structural integrity. By dragging a chain across the repaired concrete, the crew carefully listened for a distinct sound that would let them know if an area was hollow or not. Chamberlin successfully completed the repairs with no deficiencies noted.
This was a very fast-paced project, as everything had to be completed within six months for OU's first football game. With the compressed schedule and weather days, Chamberlin had to execute multiple scopes simultaneously and plan accordingly. Along with the size of the project and fast-paced timeline, the OU Stadium was not shut down for the renovations. This meant Chamberlin had to work around OU activities such as the spring football game, commencement and other various events that were held in the stadium. Maintaining the field was a priority, and material storage space was extremely limited.
The Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium was renovated on time, with zero safety incidents and without closing the stadium. Chamberlin was honored to help make the stadium at Oklahoma University new again.