Inspection of soccer stadiums is underserved child

When things go wrong in soccer stadiums, they can go dramatically wrong. In England's Hillsborough, for example, 96 people died because supporters were crowded by standing stands and fences. In Luzhniki, the match was cruelly disrupted by slippery stands, and in Guatemala, 83 supporters lost their lives due to stadium overcrowding. We can still prevent these disasters in the Netherlands.

Text | Liliane Verwoolde  Image | SGS Intron

Dutch stadiums are not entirely free of incidents. For example, during a heavy storm the roof of the AZ stadium came down, fortunately without any personal accidents. At the FC Twente stadium, the roof structure collapsed and one fatality occurred. These events sparked discussion to prevent worse. Are mayors and officials really the right people to declare a stadium safe?

Protocol Construction Safety

Maarten Swinkels follows this discussion closely. As a senior consultant at SGS Intron, he knows that stadium inspections are costly and time-consuming. This could be a reason - especially if the stadium in question is privately owned - to postpone inspections. All the more reason to applaud the 'Protocol for Structural Safety of Professional Football Stadiums' drawn up by construction firm ABT and commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior.

An important first step

"The protocol is not yet mandatory," Swinkels knows. "It is soundly based and written from the perspective of a structural engineer. That automatically makes the structural engineer the party who will perform the investigation according to this protocol. I would have preferred that such an important investigation be conducted by a team, all members of which look at it from their own area of expertise. I am thinking here of a structural engineer, designer, experienced inspector, materials expert, corrosion specialist, risk analysis specialist and last but not least a user. Then you can expand the inspection on design and construction with inspection on use and maintenance."

SGS Intron now has extensive experience in inspecting materials and analyzing risks. With this, it has everything it needs - together with the structural engineer - to carry out a total inspection. "Stadium inspections are an underserved child. Let's do something about it while we still can."