Toadvine Blog

Bleachers are the most affordable form of mass seating and are used by schools around the country. However, this type of seating can come with a larger price tag if not maintained properly. With schools getting older and budgets sometimes getting smaller, bleachers in gymnasiums and stadiums are oftentimes ignored and do not go through necessary safety and maintenance checks. While the seating in your school remains the same, safety requirements continue to change.

The Problem Exists

Over 15,000 children under the age of 15 are injured each year by bleacher seating. This has prompted many state lawmakers to publish guidelines on retrofitting and updated existing bleachers to help lessen this number and prevent children from injury. These guidelines include a required maintenance inspection every year to ensure that your indoor or outdoor seating is safe and up to current regulations.

Is Your School Liable?

The truth is that if a school has not had its bleachers inspected by a certified service technician or has not done the required maintenance, then that school is likely to be found liable for any injury. The problems that cause these injuries are not always easy to see. Some of the issues that create a liability for schools include:

• Gaps in the floor or sides
• Poorly secured guardrails or handrails
• Lack of required guardrails or handrails
• Lack of required safety signage
• Poorly secured bleachers
• Failure to obtain maintenance inspection
• Slippery areas either dry or wet
• Debris or overhanging trees

If an accident were to occur on your indoor or outdoor bleacher seating, your school could be found liable for negligence. If a public school has events, such as sporting or music events that require school seating to be used, then the premises of the public event could be found liable. In a case where a school is privately owned, the owner of the property could be liable of an accident.

What Can Your School Do

In order to protect your school from liability issues and, more importantly, ensure the safety of your students, you have to make sure your bleachers are regularly maintained. When was your last inspection? Are you due for another one?

Toadvine Enterprises offers a maintenance and inspection program that takes the hassle of maintaining bleachers off of schools. Toadvine also offers yearly contracts to ensure that you never miss a required inspection. Learn more about our Vine & Branch maintenance and inspection program here.

Even though books are packed away and studying has been put on hold for a few weeks, student athletes are scoring big on the soccer practice field this summer and gearing up for a busy sports season.

As your team swings into action this summer, it's time to consider how you will accommodate your team's fans when the competition heats up. Toadvine Enterprises has everything you need to equip, outfit and prepare your soccer team for competition, and when it comes to outdoor seating for your team's fans, we have that covered, too.

We have completed many high-profile outdoor seating projects and have been providing bleacher seating to fans in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee for more than 30 years. We take pride in offering top-of-the-line soccer bleachers along with exceptional customer service.

If you would like to add outdoor seating to your facility, consider our Alum-a-Stand Elevated and Non-elevated bleachers. Elevated aluminum bleachers are the perfect addition to any sports field for home and visitor seating. Non-elevated bleachers are great for any event that requires just a few rows of outdoor seating. We can also set you up with Press Boxes, custom seating finishes, multiple railing options and more. We customize your facility to fit your vision and your budget.

Fill out the form here and one of our seating professionals will contact you to discuss your individual needs. Our "goal" at Toadvine Enterprises is to help you customize your soccer seating from start to finish so that you score big with all the fans.

 

Image courtesy of hin255 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The match between the Cards and the Cats in the Sweet 16 wasn't the only heated event to hit the hard wood this basketball season. At Toadvine Enterprises we understand that stiff competition can leave fans on the edge of their seats, literally, and when their enthusiasm explodes you need an arena that's equipped for those crazed fans and rowdy events. Whether your indoor arena will need to accommodate competing rivalries or more sophisticated assemblies, Toadvine has a variety of seating options to fit your needs. Here are some of the various seating options you can choose when designing or updating your facility.

Whether you are purchasing bleachers to add that final finishing touch, or you want to keep your facility safe and secure, it is important for all sports facilities to check with their local code officers to be sure that any bleachers they purchase will meet recent safety regulations. Code sometimes dictates a handrail in order to comply with local code regulations. There have been instances recently of sports facilities upgrading their entire bleacher seating system simply because the railings did not meet the latest code. Insurance companies and risk management will require that.

If you are searching for railing systems to install in your sports facility, here are a few of the options available:

• Fold and Stow Center Aisle Hand Rails. No tools required. Stores on the deck in closed position and rail rotates and snaps into place.
• Self-Storing End Rails. These stylish rails are designed to meet the most stringent codes for rail loading and sphere passage.
• Fixed Front and Rear Rails. These rails are an ideal solution for truncations, elevated front aisles, free standing, portables and reverse fold systems.
• Center Aisle Hand Rails. Safety rails in this system include fixed, folding and removable options and feature a fully closed, safe design.

Contact Toadvine and let us quote you a price on adding rails to your sports facility.

Closure Panels are a finishing element added to a grandstand or bleacher that adds not only safety and maintenance benefits, but also a finishing touch that makes a lasting impression. Closure Panels are often added to stairs, ramps, elevated walkways, handicap areas, mid-cross aisles, and press boxes to complete the look and provide added functionality and safety.

There are several different types of closure systems to choose from including:

Architectural Panels. This system offers a classic, rich masonry texture look to enclose the exposed structure of stadium elements. With the look of real bricks, your facility will receive a classic ballpark aesthetic at a fraction of the cost.

Poly Panels. This non-corrosive, impact-resistant Poly Panel System is made of 100% recycled material and serves to conceal cross braces and framing material with solid, flat panels to give the stadium a more polished look. Aside from the aesthetic appeal, this system also enhances revenue generation by increasing the ability to affix sponsor/donor signage or logos, promotes safety by eliminating under-bleacher access, and increases function by lowering time and expense of clean up under bleachers. Choose from 10 standard colors.

Aluminum. This is the most cost-effective way to enclose your bleachers and decrease maintenance costs while also increasing traffic control abilities. These powder coated systems visually enhance the overall look of the grandstand while displaying team colors and projecting team colors.

Whatever your needs may be, Toadvine Enterprises can help you secure a closure system that will boost your visual presence. Contact us to learn more.

Hybrid Precast Stadium Systems are a patented product by Dant Clayton that provides the benefits of a complete concrete stadium at a significantly reduced cost.

This pre-engineered metal grandstand is safe, functional and aesthetically pleasing, made with a lightweight precast concrete walking surface. Made with an economical steel structure, this revolutionary system functions in combination with any type of structure support system and can be equipped with many features and options. This system provides the best of both worlds; a concrete stadium experience on a pre-engineered bleacher budget. Additional features include:

• Concrete walking surfaces
• Look and feel of traditional precast risers
• Reduced noise, vibration and deflection
• Lower cost
• Performance and value
• Limitless design options
• Accommodates any tread depth, guardrail type, seat type or column grid
• Maximizes water control
• Minimizes the effects of thermal expansion
• Complete turnkey system
• Simple and quick erection process

Today's sports facilities must accommodate the needs of athletes, fans, teams, VIPs and owners, all while maintaining tight budgets. By using concrete in a facility, the spectator experience is maximized, but sometimes that comes at a cost outside the project budget. This evolutionary design maximizes the spectator experience and satisfaction, with the benefits of a concrete stadium without the cost of one.

Contact Toadvine to find out how your facility can be converted into a revolutionary stadium at a budget-friendly cost.

From portable bleachers to bleacher solutions that accommodate high school and collegiate outdoor facilities, the Alum-A-Stand bleacher seating system is engineered for maximum strength and durability and can be configured to a wide variety of applications.

When deciding which seating system best fits the needs of your stadium or outdoor facility, here are some advantages of the Alum-A-Stand bleacher to consider before making your decision:

• Powder coated riserboards offer enhanced aesthetics from the front and rear of the bleacher.
• A fully closed decking system virtually eliminates underside
  maintenance.
• Tube and channel under-structure offer increased strength and
  durability.
• All aluminum construction eliminates the risk of rust.
• Construction with bolted extrusions, containing no welded parts susceptible to breakage.

Accommodating crowds from just a few hundred spectators to more than 10,000, the configurable steel and aluminum I-Beam Grandstand bleacher seating can be built anywhere, for any sport. It is designed to be permanently anchored to reinforced concrete columns or piers.

The seat planks have a clear, anodized finish. Footboard planks are mill finished. The understructure of this seating system consists of welded steel beams, stringers, and braces, made from extruded aluminum. The components used in the I-Beam understructure go through a galvanized process which means they are "hot-dipped" in a molten bath of zinc which coats the steel with a thin layer of protection against rust and corrosion. The understructure offers more versatility for a variety of uses from restrooms and concession stands to storage, dressing facilities, walkways, and more.

This diverse seating system can also be designed with a variety of decking, seating, and railing options to suit your individual needs. Limitless design options can include:

• Handicap Accessible Seating
• VIP Suites/Press Boxes
• Colored Risers
• Freestanding or Integrated Roof
• Drip Shield with Gutters and Downspouts

This steel-framed structure offers the ideal combination of safety, aesthetics, functionality, and affordability for a wide variation of facilities from high school and collegiate sports to entertainment venues and much more.

Contact Toadvine today if you would like a quote or want to learn more about the I-Beam Grandstand bleacher.