Mall of Asia Arena transforms into monster truck playground

The SM Mall of Asia Arena has hosted some big acts, but none as big as the Monster Jam trucks that are set to roar, jump, and roll their way across the giant stage. The main floor of the  15,000-seat venue is being transformed into a huge track for the six trucks that will thrill the crowd on June 20 and 21: Grave Digger, Dragon, El Toro Loco, Max-D, Son-Uva Diggger, and Zombie.

The building of the Monster Jam truck amounts to a major construction project. Two separate teams are needed to make the total transformation from event floor to race track. First, the track construction crew covers the floor or field and manages the move-in of the dirt and sculpting the track. Second, the Monster Jam tech staff prepares the non-dirt obstacles and the decoration of the track and stadium walls.

The demand for great freestyle competitions and the increasingly technical tracks have put more and more demands on the construction crews.

To give you an idea of how dirt track construction professionals will convert the MOA Arena to a Monster Jam track, here’s the typical arena track build by the numbers:

• 2300 square meters of plastic and 1000 sheets of plywood
• 1,000 tons of dirt or 80 truck loads
• 500 number of hours to build and remove track from beginning to end
• 1666 liters of fuel to fuel the machinery
• 200 meters feet of banners to dress the track
• 200 man hours to install and remove the plastic and plywood field cover
• 96 – 100 hours for the entire construction cycle from arena to racetrack and back to arena.
• 113 liters of paint to paint obstacles and track
• 20 dump trucks used
• 10 crush cars
• 10 – 12 pieces of heavy machinery depending on venue
• 18 hours to paint logos and designs on track and obstacles
• 5 – 6 Dirt Crew members
• 4 – 6 dumpsters used as safety barriers

For more information about Monster Jam show in Manila, visit www.monsterjam.com.ph. The site features a lot of information, photographs and videos about the trucks and the drivers. There are links to special features and offers, along with racing results, standings, news, schedules, ticket information, video content and more.