CARILLON PARK-DESIGN OF SUPPORT STRUCTURE FOR THE TREE OF LIGHT

After a windstorm damaged a holiday lighting display atop the Deeds Carillon at Carillon Park in Dayton, Ohio, Woolpert was contracted to provide structural engineering services to support the Carillon Tree of Light, a 200-foot illuminated conical holiday tree shape.

Woolpert improved the support structure by using design approaches similar to telecommunications towers.  A multi-pipe column system creates a composite steel tower to maximize strength, yet minimize weight.  The steel tower resists 90 mph winds and ice loads.  Minimizing weight is critical, since crane capacity and installation sequence limited the total weight to 4,500 pounds including lights and guy cables.  In collaboration with the contractor, design details were incorporated to facilitate stringing lights into position and the annual dismantling sequence.

Soon, the Carillon Tree of Light was once again sparkling with 96 strands of lights attached from the ground to the steel tower and safely hosting holiday celebrations. The Carillon is the largest in Ohio and the holiday display is believed to be the largest lighted tree display, as well.

Image taken by WHIO team.