Like many things Texan, the future home of the Dallas Cowboys is a place requiring frequent use of superlatives.
Descriptions of it often start with words like,
“The most...“
“The biggest...”
“The highest...”
Such words mean an enormous challenge has been at hand for contractors since April, 2006, when ground broke for the $1.1 billion Arlington, Texas, retractable-roof stadium in preparation for the 2009 NFL football season. But for W&W/AFCO Steel of Oklahoma City, the stadium is one in a series of complex major projects that the fabricator is handling deftly.
This project is high on the radar of Bert Cooper, the W&W Steel Chairman of the Board, partly for no reason other than he is a big Cowboys fan. In terms of tonnage, however, it’s not a giant job forW&W, but it’s a bright shining star for the company in more ways than one.
“It’s not even the largest job we have going right now,” says Cooper, citing a convention center/casino in Las Vegas that requires 70,000 tons of steel, compared to the 15,000 tons going into the Cowboys Stadium.“But it’s definitely the most prestigious.”
Indeed, it’s hard to imagine any structure competing for the level of attention 
being trained on the impressive new Cowboys’ home. And the fact that the 2008 season is wrapping up reinforces the fact that kickoff, 2009, is growing nearer.
Senior Project ManagerWarren Stickrod andWeldon Mann, W&W Steel’s onsite project manager, face a hard deadline for “substantial completion” of the stadium’s complex roof structure by December 31.That means that all steel will be fabricated at one of three W&W Steel locations, finish coated at the fabricator, delivered, erected, and touch-up coated once it is in place. If that sounds at all overwhelming, trust that Stickrod and Mann are confident in their team’s ability to get it done.
“All it is is a giant erector set,” says Mann.“Just a little more complicated to put together.”
