The Adelaide Oval redevelopment.

From a logistical point of view, for the first match at the redeveloped ground I thought it was great. Main issue was the AFL badly underestimated the number of Footy Records and they were sold out a good hour before the game started, but that's an AFL fail, not an Adelaide Oval fail.

The bridge worked brilliantly. The entry to the ground was fantastic. Access to facilities was brilliant. Walking around the ground was great - much nicer walking around a lower concourse that looks over the ground rather than goes around the back of the ground. Didn't have a problem at all getting around the ground, nor to and from the ground.

ADELAIDE Oval’s $535 million refit is earning more international praise with an engineering award in London.

The Institution of Structural Engineers in London - the world’s biggest group of engineers - has praised the Oval’s structural re-design ahead of 85 other projects in 22 countries.

The international judges recognised how the Oval was converted to a 50,000-seat stadium for Australian football and cricket while preserving critical historical elements such as the 101-year-old scoreboard and hill at the northern end.

Adelaide Oval was recognised ahead of the multi-purpose Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in the United Arab Emirates, the Star Observation Wheel in Melbourne and the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart.

Minister for Infrastructure Stephen Mullighan today praised the SA engineers, Cox Architecture and the local workforce at Lend Lease that delivered the Oval on time for the start of this year’s AFL premiership Showdown between the Crows and Port Adelaide in late March.

“This award is something we should all be proud of, just as we are of the Oval,” he said.

“Adelaide Oval continues to make a significant contribution to South Australia’s economy with

a recent report finding the redevelopment has generated about $138 million of revenue in the

CBD and created 465 jobs.

“I congratulate everyone involved in the construction and design including LendLease, Cox Architecture, ARUP, Walterbrooke, Hames Sharley, M&E Engineers, Aurecon,

Wallbridge and Gilbert, Robert Bird Group and AECOM.”

Some more governmental grandstanding? Cox (from Melbourne) were part of the architectural team.
But this is a structural engineering design award. Not architects, not builders, not civil engineering.
No love for the Surveyors or the Project Manager either alas.

Still a worthy award all the same.