Over the past fifteen years we have witnessed a dramatic change in the world of sport or to be more precise, sports stadia. Driven by a number of factors, not least safety legislation, new stadia and grandstands have been springing up across the UK, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Murrayfield, Manchester, Hampden Park, Lords, Twickenham, Cheltenham Racecourse, Nottingham Ice Arena; the list seems endless. Invariably soccer attracts most attention but rugby horseracing and cricket are other sports benefiting from this continuing programme of development, which shows no signs of slowing. For members of the Structural Precast Association this is good news as clients, designers, engineers and contractors recognise the enormous advantages of prefabrication and of precast concrete as a material. These include off-site production with components manufactured under factory conditions to ISO 9001 accreditation, speed of erection, the newly installed floor or terrace area may be used immediately, and little or no propping all contributing to saving time in the construction process.
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