Australian Staging and Rigging was chosen as the supplier of  temporary grandstand seating at the diving venue for the 2007 FINA World Swimming Championships which were held in Melbourne, Australia. The diving venue chosen for the event was the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC). The MSAC diving venue was very constrained in terms of available space and as such, it provided a number of challenges to install enough temporary seating to meet the requisite number required for a World Championships. ASR installed 2 banks of seating for the event, the largest bank holding approx 2000 seats.This was constructed on top of an existing pool immediately in front of the diving well meaning the structure itself was built off the bottom of the pool. The pool was a 75m pool with the diving well at the Northern end. As such, it meant that the pool could not be emptied.

There were a number of structural considerations that needed engineering solutions to ensure that the finishes, liner and structure of the pool was not damaged. As part of the solution, ASR developed pads with a neoprene base, this allowed the scaffold to be secured into the pads with the neoprene protecting the pool floor. The pool had a depth of 2m requiring commercial divers to install the pads and secure the scaffold supports.
The second bank of seats required the removal of a glass wall and concrete upstand, with the rear of the seats bridging across MSAC’s learn to swim pool. The learn to swim pool had a moveable floor and as such, the seating structure had to bridge the pool and not prop off the bottom like the larger bank.

There were numerous challenges on top of what is outlined above that needed to be considered by ASR. These are briefly outlined below:
 Potential contamination of pool and plant equipment from scaffolding being in the pool for almost 2 months.
 The logistics of the installation were extremely challenging as the centre remained open with only the diving area closed during construction. This meant that the handling of goods from ASR’s site compound to the venue had a crossover with public.
 As the centre was highly utilized by the public, there was a lot of pressure to keep the program as short as possible.
 ASR were not the only contractor working within the diving venue, and given the constraints around the program, careful planning and coordination needed to be undertaken with all contractors (E.G. Signage, Sport Equipment, Cabling, Videoscreens /scoreboards, etc) to ensure that all had adequate access to undertake their works. This had a large impact on ASR’s already tight program, however, ASR were able to work around the needs of others without compromising their own work.
 The installation was extremely challenging as it was an indoor pool, meaning access for EWP’s, forklifts, etc was very limited. The movement of equipment over the pool deck also represented a large challenge as an access tunnel for pool plant equipment under the deck, meant the load limits were limited, impacting the type of equipment which could be brought in. The protection of pool deck finishes was also a major consideration.
 Behind the large bank of seating was the water polo warm up pool, ASR needed to provide adequate space and access for the pool and competitors.
 The event was broadcast live around the world, and required a camera tower to be imbedded into the main bank of seating as a completely separate structure (this was to eliminate vibrations from the public moving around in the seating).

Ultimately Australian Staging and Rigging was able to overcome a myriad of challenges which presented themselves along the way and deliver a seating solution in a venue which presented numerous challenges. These challenges resulted in two different installation and construction methodologies being applied. ASR was able to devise a solution commensurate with one of the largest and most prestigious World Championships on the sporting calendar.