News

Terracon’s TARGETID Provides Vital Data for MLS Stadium Construction Project

Construction on the Nashville SC soccer stadium.

When completed in spring 2022, Nashville Soccer Club’s (SC) new stadium will be the largest soccer-specific stadium in the United States. Terracon has been involved since the project’s beginning, providing environmental, facilities, geotechnical, and materials services.

Located just south of downtown in the vibrant Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood, the Nashville SC Stadium will be Music City’s newest home for MLS soccer, live music, and other events. Stadium features will include 30,000 seats, seven premium areas, 27 suites, a safe-standing supporters’ section, and more.

Terracon’s team started with a Phase I environmental site assessment for the site on a former fairground. Later, a Phase II environmental site assessment was performed. Facilities work has included waterproofing of below-grade walls, air/moisture barrier review, testing of window glazing systems, review of the roofing system, and installation review.

Most of Terracon’s work on the new stadium is focused on geotechnical and materials, starting with preliminary geotechnical services for the stadium location during the design phase. Challenges included the pinnacled karst topography and bedrock. Early in the project, our teams started using TARGETID, a new and innovative solution that uses GIS integration to combine the project’s testing and inspection data with its rich design data in real time.

Watch to learn more about TARGETID.

Terracon field professionals enter testing and inspections data in the field using a mobile device. A mobile application enables them to place their data into an interactive map that includes the project’s design information. Site data is available in real time, from the locations where the testing is performed, so clients can view specific data quickly to make timely, informed decisions.

Using TARGETID early in the project has helped to keep the construction on schedule, but the benefits of using TARGETID go beyond work on the stadium’s foundation. The timely data provided through TARGETID can help clients make informed decisions as a project progresses.

In fact, stadium construction is a good example of a large-scale project that generates massive amounts of materials testing data, such as field density tests, concrete tests, and more. TARGETID allows our clients to quickly and easily sift through the thousands of reports to find the one they want in mere seconds or minutes. TARGETID is a technological breakthrough in the industry. The testing and inspection locations of our materials tests on a project are recorded within the context of the project design information in a map. This allows the client to view the needed results with an interactive map of the project instead of sifting through spreadsheet results and checking against work orders – a tedious and time-consuming process.

In addition to a seamless integration with our internal data management systems, we can export the testing and inspection information in numerous GIS and design formats or simply in a spreadsheet if desired, saving both Terracon and the client time. TARGETID also makes it easy to find stored data quickly. For example, site plans for the stadium were entered into TARGETID, enabling the contractor to find information by location or stage of construction.

On the Nashville MLS stadium project, TARGETID is also being used to show the status of our inspections for structural steel. The status of each framing member is updated as the inspection occurs on the project site and is easily identifiable with a color-coding system. Visible in both 2D and 3D, framing members colored blue are ready for decking (if applicable); green sections are ready for concrete (if applicable); yellow members indicate contractor work in progress; gray members indicate members not erected or pending initial observation; and red indicates framing members with identified deviations to be addressed with inspectors, structural engineers, or architects.

For updates on the Nashville SC stadium construction – including the Live Stadium Construction Camera, visit: https://www.nashvillesc.com/stadium/construction

For more information about TARGETID, visit: https://www.terracon.com/services/materials/targetid/

Michael Jenkins, P.E., is national director for transportation construction engineering services. He has more than 20 years of experience working transportation construction projects as an owner representative and contractor.

Justin Reynolds, P.E. has more than 10 years of experience working on materials construction projects in the lab, field and as a project engineer. He is the technical lead for TARGETID and directly supports and consults on many of Terracon's largest projects across the nation.