What goes in to building a Monster Jam Event.

MONSTER JAM is coming, yes for those who have been hiding in a cave or something yes Monster Jam is heading back to South Africa and petrolheads around the SA are chomping at the bit. This year dates for those who still havent booked are Cape Town 22 April, Johannesburg 29 April and Durban 6th May. If you havent booked your tickets go NOW to Ticketmaster, they are selling out fast. As we eagerly await news on what awesome drivers and all-time favourite Monster Trucks will be heading to SA, RestoMod wanted to know what goes on behind the scenes; how does all that come together.

We spoke to Willem van der Walt from Derwalt, the company that put in months of work behind the scenes to make this amazing event happen.

Preparation

Preparation for Monster Jam starts over a year before the event from the sourcing of material to everything that goes in to making the track on the day. First the stadium needs to be booked and scouted to ensure the pitches underneath dont get damaged and then the logistics to get everything on site and on time are planned in detail.

Dirt samples are sent to the Monster Jam team in the USA to be analyzed to ensure the consistency is correct so that the track shape is kept and to make sure trucks dont get stuck. Once this is done storage locations close to the event are booked. This is where all the gravel is collected and mixed waiting for the day.

Building

Derwalt uses two teams as this gives them the opportunity to leapfrog. So while a team in Joburg is busy the other team heads to Durban to begin preparations. The team consists of 40 local production crew and 85 International crew this excludes Stadium staff such as security and cleaners. Work starts a week before, when all equipment, dirt, etc is brought onto site work begins in getting everything ready. The team has only 12 to 14 hours to put the track together, YIP 12 -14 HOURS. The Track is built and removed with in 60 Hours. That is crazy!

It all starts on Thursday afternoon. First the field gets a protective layer of permeable geotextile that allows the grass to breathe Derwalt uses about 10 000 sqm per venue to ensure the grass doesnt die. (Yes there is a ticking clock on that as well). 3000 sheets of Plywood is then interlayered to spread the pressure of the dirt. Once the teams are absolutely sure that EVERYTHING is covered, the soil starts coming in, 3500 cubic meters of dirt to be exact.

Once the dirt is in place its time to start building the ramps. At the last event cars, dumpsters and containers were used to build the base of the rams and obstacles. Willem informed me that this year they will be using new ramps that are much safer, easier to move around and reusable as well. By 10am Friday morning the track has to be ready as the rehearsals to starts.

Once the event is over, and the last people have left the show the cleanup starts. All the ramp, dirt, boards and material must be removed from the field by 8am on Sunday morning just as the grass wakes up. That is a total of 72 hours from start to finish.

The logistics behind this event are astonishing and our hats go off to Willem and his team at Derwalt as well as the international Monster Jam crew for putting it all together. So, on the day if you see crew member walking around like a zombie, give them a smile of maybe a hi five for making all of that happen.