The University of Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium is nationally known as an intimidating place for visiting football teams to play. Since the stadium’s completion in 1929, the university’s football team has developed a phenomenal winning tradition resulting in as loyal a fan base as can be found in college sports.
This popularity brought with it a huge demand for extra capacity, so the university broke ground in 2006 on additional enhancements that included more skyboxes and a north end-zone addition that would add over 8,000 new seats, bringing total capacity to 92,138.
The old seats’ factory finish had weathered nearly 20 years of intense sun, leaving the once bright red faded and chalked. Tnemec’s Series 1070 Fluoronar, an advanced fluoropolymer topcoat, was selected for its exceptional color and gloss retention. Able to withstand ultra-violet light that can damage other coatings and cause them to fade, Fluoronar retains its color and gloss for many years and easily outperforms even the best polyurethanes.
The section of approximately 2,000 seat frames was first power tool cleaned in accordance with SSPC-SP3 and then primed with a spray-applied coat of Series 135 Chembuild, a modified polyamidoamine epoxy with exceptional adhesion characteristics, followed by a coat of Series 1070 Fluoronar in Crimson Tide Red. The need for a color-fast coating didn’t stop in the stands. The observation towers at the team’s practice field – and even the blocking sleds – received the same system.
The renovation project also addressed the concourses in the lower bowl where a Tnemec flooring system was applied to a 70,000 sq ft area. Series 237 PowerTread, a multi-purpose polyamine epoxy, was applied by double broadcast to a thickness of 1/8”. This impact and abrasion resistant floor topping was then coated with Series 280 Tneme-Glaze, a durable polyamine epoxy that seals and smoothes the surface. A coat of Series 291 CRU, a polyester polyurethane, was then applied for increased resistance to abrasion and staining.
With a newly refurbished stadium and a fresh coat of paint, Bryant-Denny Stadium will surely continue the colorful tradition of Alabama football.