DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

The design and construction team building Citi Field, the new home of the New York Mets, had only 36 months in which to design and construct the ballpark on a less than ideal site. Since the soils at the site were so poor that they required extensive support, the foundation contract had to be awarded eight months before the architectural and structural documents were completed. But a coordinated team effort on the part of the architects, geotechnical engineers, structural engineers, and construction managers resulted in an extraordinary stadium that was more than ready for the Mets’ 2009 homes opener.