News

MCG Sports Lighting Upgrade Project now complete

May 2020

Nilsen is proud to have reinforced its 25 year relationship with the MCC through the successful delivery of the MCG Sports Lighting Upgrade project. Nilsen has achieved its own grand final win by completing to deadline the almost impossible project; retrofitting all tower and infill lights plus associated works in time for the Women’s T20 World Cup final on 8th March 2020. In an ultra-compressed timeframe, Nilsen’s exceptional organisational, management, scheduling and communication skills enabled the MCG to meet all its event commitments while upgrading to a world-class stadium lighting design. Added benefits provided by the upgrade included reduced energy consumption and significant annual electricity savings.

These savings were achieved by replacing 30+ year old lights with modern LEDs and cutting edge computer technology, resulting in a considerable drop in electricity usage. Nilsen utilised an optimisation (dimming) model to match light intensity requirements of AFL, cricket and soccer. This means lights run cooler, releasing less heat into the atmosphere.

The project scope included the installation of 954 new lights across the six towers, the Great Southern Stand and Northern Stand and all associated works. Five different types of light fittings were used, depending on location.

Workplace Health and Safety

Nilsen worked over 25,000 hours on the project without recording a single LTI or MTI – a considerable achievement in a time critical, height-dominated working environment. The main WHS-related challenges and initiatives on the project included:

• The predominance of work at heights of 20 to 85 metres
• Falling debris, tools or materials into public areas
• Wind, fatigue and dehydration caused by weather/heights work
• Manual handling, raising and lowering of lights, switchboards and brackets.

Energy Efficiency and Recycling

The DMX-RDM technology used in the control system also provides technical information on each fitting that can be used to reduce whole-of-life costs in maintenance, light replacement, electricity usage and carbon footprint.

Nilsen also made important contributions in waste minimisation and recycling throughout the project. Our Heidelberg warehouse became a processing/recycling hub as we exceeded MCC’s target for waste to be recycled.

The delivery of this project against such a tight deadline and compact schedule of events reinforces Nilsen’s position as an industry leader with capabilities to perform complex works to the satisfaction of the customer, not only within tight timeframes but also while maintaining high levels of quality and safety.