ARC Scans the World’s Largest Video Screen – $30 million reno

ARC Scans the World’s Largest Video Screen

The Las Vegas Fremont Street Experience Renovation Process

TUSTIN, California (March 24, 2020) – The Las Vegas Fremont Street Experience unveiled its newly upgraded Viva Vision canopy featuring 49.3 million LEDs on January 1, 2020. Instead of taking the entire structure down and constructing a new one, the canopy renovations were made by removing the individual tube steel frames/LED strip assemblies and replacing them with pre-fabricated frames/LED strip assemblies of similar size and shape. Architectural Resource Consultants (ARC) provided the extremely accurate measurements that made the $30 million renovation possible.

To ensure that the deliverables would meet the client’s needs, ARC conducted a pilot project that: 

• vetted out a laser scanning and survey workflow
• determined whether some of the modified frames were themselves repeatable dimensionally
• prefabricated test frames from as-built data
• allowed the client to test out their installation workflow
• allowed the client to confirm their pre-fabrication process would be successful 

Since the structure stands about 90 feet-tall, ARC needed to use lifts to position scan targets on steel members that would be shot from ground level. For more detailed data capture of connections between the canopy support members and sub-frames, ARC needed to overcome the challenge of being able to position its scanner to see these connections through narrow openings at the underside of the canopy.  ARC’s R&D division, ARC Labs, invented a new fully articulating rig that not only served this purpose, but functioned to position the scanner while operating on the top side of the canopy as well. 

“It was a good thing that we performed a pilot project because it didn’t work the first time or even the second time,” said John Russo, CEO and president of ARC. “We determined that some of the data couldn’t be captured because of concealed conditions, and we had to develop alternate strategies to obtain the necessary measurements that would still be meaningful and useful to our client.” 

ARC worked in the pre-dawn and early morning hours since the Fremont Street Experience had to remain fully operational. The ARC team faced a hazardous environment with extreme temperatures hitting triple digits. When climbing the canopy to scan from above, extra precautions had to be taken to ensure the safety of both the crews above and pedestrians walking below.

“One of the most challenging aspects of this project was the tolerances,” said Russo. “The client required manufacturing tolerances within the USIBD Level of Accuracy range of LOA40 (1/16” – ¼”). These are very difficult to obtain in the world of existing conditions documentation, especially in this type of environment.” 

Many restrictions and a tight schedule led ARC to create a strategy that would ensure they completed the project on-time and within budget. ARC focused on scanning unique sub-frame types, and the client used these to make assumptions about other panels on the 1,500-foot-long canopy. Pairing its data with survey control provided by ARC’s local survey partner, Wallace Morris Kline Surveying, made it possible to deliver the information required by the client.

The project’s success helped the client avoid project delays and minimize on-site field fabrication. The Viva Vision canopy had a successful live televised worldwide debut on New Year’s Eve 2019. 

One of the exciting factors that this renovation has brought for Las Vegas crowds is that the Fremont Street Experience can now be enjoyed during the day time. The newly improved LED panels on the Viva Vision canopy feature a black background. Not only does it create contrast for day time shows, it has also quadrupled the resolution and increased the brightness by a factor of seven.

About Architectural Resource Consultants

Architectural Resource Consultants (ARC) is an award-winning firm that has specialized in providing high quality building documentation services to the AEC+FM (Architectural, Engineering, Construction and Facilities Management) communities since 1997. During this time, ARC has focused on perfecting the means, methods and best practices to provide extremely accurate as-built documentation using the latest in technologies such as HDS (High Definition Survey) 3D Laser Scanning (3DLS) and advanced photo imagery. For more information, please visit www.arc-corporate.com.

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