Rebecca Maloney
Americas Press Office ,Boston
This 400ft-tall flagpole has been engineered to welcome the Sheboygan, Wisconsin community for the next 50 years.
Arup served as the technical advisor for this 400ft-tall, free-standing flagpole owned by the ACUITY Insurance Company. The pole, which is currently the largest in the United States, was dedicated in June.
“ACUITY erected its first flagpole after 9/11 as a tribute to our Nation’s soldiers, and from there its meaning, intent and symbolism have grown to mean many different things to many different people. During this latest installation we knew this was much bigger than a construction project and we were committed to doing it right in order to provide our community with a beacon of hope and patriotism well into the future. It brought a great sense of comfort and confidence to our team knowing we had Arup’s experience and expertise guiding all aspects of the project on our behalf. They helped us stay focused and the end result is exactly what we were striving for. It was wonderful to have them by our side.
Sheri Murphy, ACUITY’s vice president, services & administration and flagpole project lead.
ACUITY appointed Arup to review and oversee all technical aspects of the flagpole’s design and fabrication, which included wind engineering; supplemental damping design; cold weather engineering; metal fatigue analysis; geotechnical, electrical, and mechanical engineering; moveable structures; corrosion protection; lighting; and security camera review. Key engineered components of the flagpole include a rotating truck slew bearing assembly at its top, and three pendulum-type tuned mass dampers within the pole to suppress the first three modes of cross-wind oscillations.
Key collaborators on this project included contractor Mortenson; US Flag & Flagpole Supply; structural engineers APE Inc.; and tuned mass damper supplier Flow Engineering.
Additional facts about the ACUITY flagpole:
- At 400ft, it is the tallest flagpole in the world flying a US flag.
- The flagpole is 11ft in diameter at its base tapering to 5ft 6in at its top.
- The pole weighs approximately 420,000lbs and was fabricated and erected in six sections.
- The 60ft x 120ft flag weighs 350lbs.
- Over 500 gallons of paint provide corrosion protection.
- The foundation is comprised of 680 cubic yards of concrete.
- It was designed to withstand low temperature service of minus 41 degrees Celsius and wind speeds of 120mph.
- You can view a time-lapse video of construction here.