COBB ENERGY CENTRE

The primary identification pylon at Cobb Energy Centre is 65 feet tall, 60 wide, and features a 40-foot by 25-foot, full-color video board. Naturally, any structure of this size, especially one composed of curved and angled faces, presents certain challenges, but the major difficulties had to do with site conditions. Because the structure has most of its weight cantilevered off one side, it puts tremendous torque on its base even when the wind is not blowing. As a result, the foundation required was substantial. Unfortunately the sign is so close to the parking garage, or more importantly the garage’s foundation, that a typical pier footing simply would not fit in the available space. There was scarcely room to dig at all without compromising the structure of the building.  Additionally, we couldn’t simply move away from the building because the sign is closed in on the other sides by required driveways. To confront this we engineered several potential footing designs before arriving at a solution that allowed us to drop the sign and foundation neatly between the building and the existing curbs. We exceeded the required structural targets, without disturbing any of the existing work, adding another landmark structure to the Metro-Atlanta cityscape.