COTA Austin - construction and infrastructure

[strad]

171 bucks for GA three days dont seem like a bad deal to me.

[Richard]

I think I'd have simplified the structure. I like the idea, but it's not the most elegant bit of detailing I've seen.

And I'm surprised that there's no splice plate here. Messy, messy...

I agree that detailing is too cluttered.

Who in their right mind decided to do that weld, and who thought it a good idea to make the pics public!

I also see the formwork joiners were kept busy on the stairs.

[alpen]

Woo hoo tickets purchased! Now what the hell to do about a hotel. Can't believe that everything is sold out or $400, COTA is going to be hurting if the hotels keep f**king their clients with rates like this, they need to step up and tell the association they can't do this...really $400 for a Holiday inn!!!???

[xpensive]

Is that weld on a load-carrying structural member, how the hell can they get away with that?

Luckily nobody will ever sit there I guess...

[hairy_scotsman]

Is that weld on a load-carrying structural member, how the hell can they get away with that?

Luckily nobody will ever sit there I guess...

I'll defer to the construction guys, but couldn't that have been work in progress? Maybe it's been completed by now.

Also, the ticket plan still isn't final per Geoff Moore. There may be 1-day tickets in the future.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/ ... e_ame.html

On a side note, people are talking in various places about the presale email having gone out to the entire COTA email list rather than just folks who paid the $100 fee or ppl who did the survey.

People are also reporting that totals on 3-day GA tickets are coming out to about $180 after the TM fees & taxes. If COTA plans to use TM as their ticket sales mechanism, then these fees might as well be considered part of the price by the consumer. Some other races include these fees in their pricing, like Montreal at $120.

[mclaren777]

The prices at Austin this year are really quite high, especially given the prices for Indy back in the day.

$160 to sit in the grass with no support races throughout the weekend is frankly absurd. That's almost the same price as Spa's general admission ticket.

[FW17]

$160 to sit in the grass with no support races throughout the weekend is frankly absurd. That's almost the same price as Spa's general admission ticket.

Did someone tell you that there are no support races?

[Richard]

Actually that weld looks like a designed weld rather than a site mistake.

You can see it has been prepared in the fabrication yard - the paint stops short of the weld, the upper contact surface has been cut at 45 degrees, and they’ve included overrun plates.

It also looks like they included temp connection plates on the left face. These would have allowed a temp bolted connection until the welding was finished, and then cut off. Hopefully they will tidy it up soon!

I’m also surprised that they drilled a hole in the web for that temp safety line. Wouldn’t a clamp be easier?

[xpensive]

Behold, a piece on Austin in Sweden's Daily!

http://www.svd.se/resor/austin-ar-hett- ... 214453.svd

It basically says Austin is a hot and cool place full of tatooed hipsters in handmade boots.

[mclaren777]

Did someone tell you that there are no support races?

I've looked into it extensively but I'd love to be proven wrong.

I honestly think it will just be five F1 sessions and that's it.

[Mr Alcatraz]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxHu_71sU1E[/youtube]

I have a three day pass that is up for grabs. Top Bucket. Here is the only info I have about it. Hit me up if you're interested.

Congratulations on winning the Circuit of The Americas package at the Boys Town Nevada’s Annual Journey of Hope Auction.

Please send me your mailing address, and once the tickets have been issued, I can mail them to you.



As for the Auction:

1) Two Reserved Seats to all three days of the Grand Prix (November 16, 17, & 18) is included

2) A private tour of the Track is included; however, we do not have control over the Pit Area – that is strictly controlled by Formula 1 – so that will not be part of the tour (unless you wants to wait to have a tour on Tuesday (Nov 20).

3) One lap around the Track in the three-seater race car (please note that this cannot be scheduled until Nov 20, as Formula 1 has complete control of the track for the 7 days prior, including the race days. If you prefer autographed memorabilia, in lieu of the lap around the track, please let me know and we can make this happen during the race weekend.



I will be in contact with you in the next couple of months to ensure we get your tickets mailed out, and that you receive them in ample time. Please let me know if you have any additional questions that I can assist you with.



Have a wonderful day.



Regards,



Melinda Jinks

Executive Assistant to Steve Sexton, President

Circuit of The Americas

[Pup]

Is that weld on a load-carrying structural member, how the hell can they get away with that?

I don't think there's a moment force on that member. Still, I'd like to see some splice plates. Maybe they'll add them, but I don't get why there's a splice there anyway. My guess is someone screwed up. In general, looking at the grandstand, I get the feeling that MRA is either a touch out of their league on something like this, or they're overwhelmed with the work and didn't have the time to really give it the thought it needed. I think this is the biggest structure they've ever done, yes? I believe the work for the pit building was given to Tilke.

[FW17]

Did someone tell you that there are no support races?

I've looked into it extensively but I'd love to be proven wrong.

I honestly think it will just be five F1 sessions and that's it.

honestly think you should look at it more extensively

[Richard]

I can't figure out why they've welded that. You can see nearly every column has that weld connection at the same place. It could easily have been a bolted connection for a building that small, and it is only holding the roof.

I doubt it needs welded splice plates because they've detailed a full strength butt weld.

[hairy_scotsman]

Is that weld on a load-carrying structural member, how the hell can they get away with that?

I don't think there's a moment force on that member. Still, I'd like to see some splice plates. Maybe they'll add them, but I don't get why there's a splice there anyway. My guess is someone screwed up. In general, looking at the grandstand, I get the feeling that MRA is either a touch out of their league on something like this, or they're overwhelmed with the work and didn't have the time to really give it the thought it needed. I think this is the biggest structure they've ever done, yes? I believe the work for the pit building was given to Tilke.

IIRC, the pit building was to be done by HKS , who has an extensive resume of big stadiums including Cowboys Stadium. In light of that I was baffled when I heard they'd given MR the stadium, since they haven't much (any?) work in this "genre". Who knows why. Maybe they were cheaper?

(eta: it's been a long time and I've slept a few times since then, but I think maybe HKS was given one portion of the Paddock, inside or outside, while Tilke was given the other. It seems they were to collaborate)