Phase Two of Site Construction is Underway on the World’s Largest HD Video Board
CONCORD, N.C. (Feb. 3, 2011) – The second phase of construction began this week on the world’s largest high-definition video board that will debut during Charlotte Motor Speedway’s 2011 May race events.
Long Foundation Drilling Company from Winston-Salem, N.C., and Mid-Atlantic Construction of Charlotte, N.C., are working with Eastern Sign Tech of Burlington, N.J., on phase two of the HD video board construction this week at the speedway. The construction crews are using an 80-ton crane with a 100-foot arm and a separate caisson drilling rig to dig the massive support column holes that will lift the Panasonic HD video board 110 feet above the track. This phase of site work will include removing 900 cubic yards of dirt by drilling 12 holes, each 54 inches in diameter, more than 50 feet deep to bedrock level. Concrete piers will then be installed in the holes to support the massive 500,000-pound steel frame that will hold the 165,000-pound video board. When completed, the total structure will weigh 332-and-a-half tons or 665,000 pounds.
Using heavy earth-moving equipment, crews from Granite Contracting, of Concord, N.C., have already removed 18,000 cubic yards of dirt and 3,000 cubic yards of concrete behind the backstretch where the gigantic, nearly 16,000-square-foot screen will be located. The concrete bleachers that were removed were part of the speedway’s original construction in 1960.
Designed and created by Panasonic, the approximately 200-foot-wide, 80-foot-tall screen will be centered along the backstretch between Turns 2 and 3, across from the start/finish line. Fans seated throughout the frontstretch from Turn 4 to Turn 1 will have clear viewing angles of instant replays, leaderboard updates and interactive entertainment displayed in 720P high-definition visuals. The screen will be illuminated by more than nine million LED lamps during each NASCAR race event at Charlotte Motor Speedway this spring, including the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on May 21 and the Coca-Cola 600 on May 29.
Frontstretch tickets with the best views of the new HD video board and pit road start at just $49 for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. Fans can also purchase two frontstretch tickets for just $99 to the Coca-Cola 600 by calling the speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS (3267) or online at www.charlottemotorspeedway.com.
