Covent Garden gets trussed up

From lsionline:

HOF has developed and produced a customised truss construction for the upper machinery at the Royal Ballet & Opera House (RBO) in London. The project combines high load-bearing capacity with minimal dead weight and demonstrates how modern aluminium constructions can replace traditional steel construction methods.

The Royal Ballet & Opera House was faced with a particular challenge: the increasing demands of modern stage and lighting technology, coupled with the weight of the old steel truss construction, would overwhelm the existing point hoists, each of which has a load capacity of 420kg. Additionally, the height of the truss construction was restricted by structural conditions above the stage. A complete redesign of the stage trusses was therefore necessary, a task that HOF mastered with custom-made solutions.

The RBO approached HOF to develop and construct new stage trusses consisting of five battens. A custom-made aluminium construction was created to overcome the numerous technical challenges. The RBO placed great importance on using HOF products with a proven track record of practical suitability that would meet all the project’s specific requirements.

The new truss construction uses a modified HOF MLT Four Pre Rig Truss, the HOF MLT Three Pre Rig Truss and the Hoffork 350-5. At the heart of the system is the mother truss, which is a modified MLT Four installed upside down. The MLT Four truss is open at the top, allowing it to accommodate around 70% of the height of the energy chain storage units. The bottom truss, a combination of the MLT Three and the Hoffork 350-5, completes the system….

Continues here.