Book 3, Question 69
Why Do Stadiums Have Huge Roofs?
A stadium roof is a giant umbrella. It keeps rain, snow, and harsh sun off thousands of seats, without a forest of columns on the field. Let's see how stadiums get roofs!
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 3
More fun facts
- BC Place stadium in Vancouver, Canada, has the world's largest cable supported roof that can open and close.
- Building it took 18,000 metric tons of steel, 35 kilometers of cable and 76,000 square meters of fabric.
- The finished structure equals 18 suspension bridges, each more than 200 meters long.
- The roof is held up by 36 masts, each 50 meters long.
- The roof fabric takes about 20 minutes to open or close over the field.
- All 55,000 seats stay covered all the time, even when the middle is open.
- The roof can hold up 7 million kilograms of snow.
- The new roof turned BC Place into a year round, open air place for games and events.
Sources: archive.news.gov.bc.ca
Questions kids ask
How long does it take BC Place's roof to close?
About 20 minutes. The fabric slides over the field, and the 55,000 seats stay covered the whole time.