This was the most spectacular operation so far at Ashton Gate. Yesterday two cranes lifted the massive main truss atop the east stand. See it on film, thanks to Bristol Sport.

It’s 106 meters wide, spanning exactly along the field of play. The new main truss of roof over east stand of Ashton Gate was assembled in front of the stand and lifted into place yesterday. With 75 tons it was a challenging operation for two mobile cranes, as you may see below:

Mike Henderson, operations manager for Barr Construction said yesterday: “Today has been a landmark event. The design has had to take in a lot of difficult parameters. From working with the existing Dolman roof to the new South Stand, we’ve had to work to tight tolerances of 10mm at each end of the truss. When you consider that it is 106 metres long and weighs 75 tons it’s not an easy piece of steel to slot in to place, but we are delighted to see that it has today.”

© Bristol Sport

With the lifting operation done, Dolman Stand roof is now conjoined with the new south stand, which will be open for the new season.

Finishing works on those two parts of Ashton Gate will allow phase three to begin this summer. This one will feature complete demolition of the western main stand and construction of a new two-tier structure for 11,000 people. That’s the largest and most costly part of reconstruction, which is expected to cost £45 million (€62m / $70m) altogether.