Lower.com Field - Columbus, Ohio

JUMP TO: Customer  |  Challenge  |  Discovery  |  Solution  |  Results

Customer

When Historic Crew Stadium was built in 1999, it was the first soccer-specific stadium in the United States and home to the Columbus Crew.

Twenty years later, as defending Major League Soccer Cup champions, the team was ready for a bigger, more up-to-date stadium that was closer to downtown Columbus: the destination for sports and entertainment.

The existing venue became a training facility, and a new stadium was built four miles away. The 430,000-squarefoot, $314 million Lower.com Field is at the center of the mixed-use Astor Park development and adjacent to the Arena District.

Surrounding the stadium is a 62,000-square-foot public plaza—complete with a 14-foot by 24-foot video board—to host outdoor concerts, watch parties and other events.

挑战

作为室内/室外场地，Lower.com 球场需要能够抵御阳光、风、雨甚至雪等恶劣天气的电缆，同时还要支持最先进的技术。

此外，该项目在线缆和线盘长度方面也带来了超出广泛可用的标准选择范围的挑战。

该项目的期限也很紧迫。快速的产品交付是确保哥伦布机员队准备好举办其首场主场比赛的关键。尽管由于疫情导致工地关闭，安装人员也被迫离开现场近六周，但紧迫的时间表不容妥协。

Discovery

Because of Belden’s reputation for quality cable and connectivity solutions for stadium and entertainment venues, there was already an established relationship with the owner’s representative. That team knew Belden could provide the service, support and solutions that Lower.com Field needed.

解决方案

“Lower.com 球场的一部分位于屋顶下，但主大厅区域向户外开放，” The Superior Group 项目经理 Christopher Moonan 说道。“这带来了许多挑战，但 Belden 能够解决这些挑战。他们提供的帮助确实帮助我们完成了这个项目。”

Belden为该体育场提供了从水平布线到广播布线的各种布线和连接解决方案。

FiberExpress 室内/室外 OS2 光纤配线电缆和熔接连接器用于光纤基础设施。该连接器将熔接的优点与现场可安装连接器的简单性相结合，以提高机械接头连接器的安装性能和可靠性。

由于头端室（转播车接入系统的地方）位于设施与比赛场地的对面，因此需要超长的运行时间。“平均而言，我们的滑行距离在 1,200 英尺到 1,700 英尺之间，” 穆南说道。“我们甚至还开辟了一条 2,200 英尺长的跑道，供 DJ 插电使用。”

长度超过 1,000 英尺的电缆线轴很难找到库存，但 Belden 能够按时交付，因此 Lower.com 球场在第一场比赛中就拥有了正常运行的广播系统。否则，第一场主场比赛将’已被推迟。

REVConnect^® 10GXW 系统也部署在 Lower.com 油田。随着行业’最小直径的 6A 类电缆，它’专为智能建筑应用和室内无线网络而设计，以支持高密度、高带宽需求。REVConnect Connectivity 支持对所有 RJ45 连接和组件使用单一方法进行简单、可靠的端接。

REVConnect FlexPlugs 可与设备建立直接连接，’由于插头尺寸或电缆布线限制，无法容纳典型的现场端接插头。它们还消除了对跳线、接线盒和插孔的需求，从而减少了安装时间和成本。

REVConnect 耦合器在室内/室外和静压室空间之间创建过渡点。空气处理承包商进行价值工程后，90% 的室内空间在设计后转移到静压室空间。因此，室内/室外立管布线过渡到通风布线。“REVConnect 10GX 耦合器使我们能够在不丢失任何数据的情况下完成转换，” 穆南解释道。“在测试中，你不需要’甚至没有意识到耦合器就在那里。”

REVConnect 系统显著减少返工和重新测试，确保按时安装。初级技术人员上岗前仅需接受几分钟的终止培训。“安装简便，我们可以安排一个工作人员检查并粗略地安装电缆，然后派一个工作人员在他们后面快速终止所有工作，这样我们就可以在很短的时间内完成所有工作，” 穆南说道。

Results

When ESPN arrived a few days before grand opening to check the new systems, the crew anticipated a long day of testing. Thanks to the performance of the cabling system, however, they finished several hours early.

Ryan Adams, VP of technologies for The Superior Group, says that ESPN commended Lower.com Field for the seamless testing experience. They deemed it one of the smoothest grand openings ever broadcast at a new stadium.

“Belden was able to deliver on everything, including meeting the demand of getting us longer-run reels during a very critical time for the project,” says Moonan. “They really knocked it out of the park on shortening lead times and rushing to get us material we needed to get our broadcast system up and working for that first game.”