Project Highlights

• Multipurpose arena with emphasis on hockey
• Seats 6,500
• Ranked #1 on Stadium Journey’s Top 100 list of U.S. Stadiums

Overview

Located immediately north of the existing Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center auditorium (1962), the new 204,000 square foot arena is a multi-purpose facility that accommodates concert and trade show venues but is primarily designed for college hockey. The new facility, which seats 6,500 hockey fans, is home to the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs hockey team. The service level is structural slab-on-grade, designed for 150 psf overall, with the exception of 300 psf at the event floor and loading/marshalling area. The concourse and suite levels are designed for 100 psf and consist of slab-on-metal deck (composite framing). Seating stadia, both upper and lower bowls, are precast concrete supported on steel rakers. The main roof is metal deck on joists which, in turn, are supported by eight steel trusses, two at 180′ span, six at 194′ span over the ice sheet. Truss depth varies from approximately 14′ to 22′ (single pitch top chord, flat bottom chord). Lateral loads are resisted by a series of diagonal braced steel frames. Foundations consist of driven steel pipe pile (9.625″ diameter, .352″-.395″ wall), concrete-filled with an end bearing capacity on bedrock of 120 tons each. 635 piles, average length 116′, were driven The project was delivered in five major bid packages (structural participation was concentrated in the first three). The entire structural package was modeled in Revit and Tekla. AMSOIL Arena was ranked #1 on Stadium Journey magazine’s top 100 U.S. stadiums in 2013 and #2 in 2014, calling it a “near perfect college hockey experience.”