For the 13th year in a row, Bigge Crane and Rigging is converting the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum from its baseball confines to one set up for football.

Preparing Oakland Coliseum for some football

For the 13th year in a row, Bigge Crane and Rigging is converting the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum from its baseball confines to one set up for football. Doing so requires Bigge to bring in Mount Davis, nearly 7,000 additional upper deck seats, in addition to expanding sections 134 through 150, the seats that will be closest to the Raiders sideline in what is currently the Athletics outfield. 


This type of move requires, Bigge to work in two 12-hour shifts with two 90 ton capacity P&H conventional truck cranes and one 120-ton Terex rough terrain crane, dispatched from their crane rental division. 


But Bigge isn’t done. When the A’s get back from their road trip, Bigge will be moving the outfield seats back to their baseball configuration.  The Raiders play their final exhibition game on Thursday, September 2. That night, working from midnight to noon the next day, Bigge will be working to remove the extra infield seats and reconfigure the arena for baseball. A similar feat will be executed September 19, after the Raiders first home game against the Rams. 


The greatness of the Raiders doesn’t intimidate head dispatcher TJ Carden, who has been supervising this job since 1997, “We are thrilled to be able to continue to work with the Oakland Coliseum and the Raiders and share their commitment to excellence” 


Work on this project starts August 25, 2010.


ABOUT BIGGE


Bigge Crane and Rigging is one of North America’s largest crane sales and crane rental companies. Bigge specializes in heavy lift, heavy haul, and heavy rigging projects for the refinery, petrochemical, power and civil infrastructure industries. Their headquarters are in San Leandro, CA, with thirteen offices nationwide.