Verizon Centre Maintenance and Safety Equipment Solutions

Overview of Verizon Centre Project

Bordering Chinatown on the east side of downtown Washington, D.C., Verizon Center, comprising 1,020,000 square feet (94,760 m²), is a retail and multi-purpose entertainment complex hosting two major sports teams (NBA and NHL).

The original design drawings and construction documents were reviewed to provide practical window cleaning/exterior building maintenance and fall arrest equipment. In this project, many window areas were located below large roof overhangs, occasionally obstructed by signage and a decorative steel superstructure. Also, the arched roof with low parapets required special consideration since these types of roofs can be challenging to service for roof inspection and maintenance and annual inspection of the roof anchorages as required by law.

Pro-Bel’s Technical Approach for Roof Maintenance

For this project, ground-rigged davits were employed on the roof, and davit arms were moved from base to base around the roof’s perimeter. Ground-rigged davit masts are typically short and easy to handle. They are a popular method of rigging with window cleaners, i.e., the platform is set up and moved from drop location to drop location at ground level. Hoist motors lift and lower the platform, and workers’ independent lifelines are secured to roof-mounted safety anchors.

Rigging sleeves were installed on the roof at overhang locations since the only option for suspending lines was, in many instances, through the roof. Pro-Bel rigging sleeves provide pathways through roofs, floors, walls, or other inaccessible elements for suspension lines or lifelines where access would otherwise be difficult, unsafe, or impossible. For this facility, one rigging sleeve was engineered to fit beneath a spectator seat to show how versatile sleeves are.

To access all roof-mounted Pro-Bel equipment or anchors located close to the precipice-like roof edges, workers’ safety harness lanyards are secured to a Pro-Bel horizontal cable lifeline system to provide safe, continuous horizontal mobility.