Victaulic: test for Wimbledon Centre Court's latest asset. Wimbledon Centre Court’s latest asset was given a dry run at a special event to test its functioning before the famous tennis tournament fortnight got underway in June. Thanks to a feat of engineering, ‘rain stopped play’ will be a thing of the past this year, as major refurbishment at the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) has given the court a state-of-the-art retractable roof.

Behind its success is the partnership between leading mechanical and electrical services contractor, Skanska, and Victaulic.

Not only did Skanska need to route 350 mm (14”) diameter chilled water piping and 100 mm (4”) heating piping in between the kilometers of steel struts that would support the retractable roof system, it also had to find a way of installing the pipework whilst keeping onsite hotworks to a bare minimum.

In addition, due to the transference of weight of the 10 prismatic steel trusses as they open and close, expansion, deflection and rotation within the tight, curving roof space had to be accommodated in the design of the piping system.

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