Routine maintenance is essential for facilities to operate smoothly and efficiently. Managers who fail to schedule routine maintenance on their facilities can expect minor issues to become larger, costlier problems.
Consider the case of Miller Park in Milwaukee, the home of the Brewers, where technicians recently completed what amounts to routine maintenance for the unique structure — they replaced a bearing within the stadium’s retractable roof structure, according to The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
Workers removed a large custom-built engine and lowered it to the plaza outside left field. The bogie was taken to nearby Falk Corp., and a bearing that had been making a puzzling clicking sound was removed and replaced, says Mike Duckett, executive director of the Southeastern Wisconsin Professional Baseball District.
It is unclear what caused the clicking sound which led to the $900,000 project. Officials wanted to look into the noise because there are 80 bearings on the 10 electric-powered bogies that open and close the enormous roof.
"Initial field investigations have not found any serious issues, flaws or evidence of any possible systemic problems within the bearing," Duckett says. "All good news so far." The bearing manufacturer will conduct further study of the removed wheel bearing, he said. The work is being paid through a special account established for such purposes, Duckett says. The roof is the most important part of the ballpark, which has been operating for 18 seasons — attendance is about 1 million more a year than at the team’s previous stadium, Milwaukee County Stadium.
This Quick Read was submitted by Ryan Berlin, managing editor of Facility Maintenance Decisions.
