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The Closing Night Harbour and Regional Spectacular, which closed the Sydney Olympics, has been widely heralded as the largest pyrotechnic show ever staged.
Russell Lister was Senior Event Manager for this event and reports on the logistics and infrastructure required to stage such an event.
Russell Lister has honours and masters degrees in civil engineering and is Managing Director of McLachlan Lister P/L
The Show
So, what is a Pyrotechnic Shell?
Who did the Show?
Key Tasks of the Artistic Director/Producer
What made the Show a Success
The Show
Firstly, let’s replay the detail of the Show:
The Closing Night Harbour and Regional Spectacular was staged as a “Thank You” to the people of Sydney – for hosting the 2000 Olympics.
The Closing Ceremony at the Olympic Stadium commenced at 6.00 p.m. A live simulcast of festivities was shown on screens located at the Olympic Live sites, at five more large screens located around the Sydney Harbour foreshore and at five regional centres in NSW. At the conclusion of the Closing Ceremony a separate pyrotechnic display at the Olympic Stadium ‘ignited’ a fuse causing a “River of Lightning” to charge 12 kms down the Parramatta River to the Harbour Bridge.
Click on map to view a largeer version
The River of Lightning effect was achieved by firing special lightning shells (developed by Foti Fireworks) from 24 separate firing points located about 500 metres apart, along the Parramatta River to the Harbour Bridge. Each site was fired sequentially, about 5 seconds apart, with each effect firing for a duration of about 30 seconds, giving an overall duration of about two and a half minutes.
As the last “lightning point“ west of the Harbour Bridge died, an RAAF F1-11 performed a “dump and burn” over the River of Lightning and the Harbour which culminated with an initial pyrotechnic display focused on the Harbour Bridge, signifying the arrival of the Olympic Flame into the City.
The Harbour Bridge was selected as the focal point for the Show because of its central location, architectural beauty, iconic status and unbeatable qualifications as a pyrotechnic firing platform. Complementary displays were also staged in conjunction with the Harbour Bridge from four CBD buildings (Grosvenor Place, Regent Hotel, Goldfields House, KPMG Centre), three North Sydney Buildings (The Philip’s Building, Greenwood Plaza, Sharp Building), and Darling Harbour (a barge, Pyrmont Bridge, and IBM and Nestle Towers).
Beneath the Harbour Bridge 10 giant Roman Candles on 10 small boats created a screen of white fire in front of the Bridge, as similar candles on the arch exploded in a magnificent pyrotechnic arch.
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The bridge erupts with pyros by Syd Howard Fireworks International
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Following the opening Harbour Bridge display, the “Olympic Rings of Fire” display was shot from four separate harbour firing points spanning the main Harbour from east to west. Five of the world’s great pyrotechnic companies were engaged to represent each of the continental groupings of Olympic Games founder Baron Pierre de Coubertain’s five Olympic Rings. Each Contractor choreographed their own 3 minute element of the 15-minute display.
At the conclusion of the Olympic Rings of Fire display, a 3_ minute finale display occurred, featuring the Harbour Bridge, CBD Buildings, North Sydney Buildings and Darling Harbour.
To close the performance, the Olympic Rings erected on the Harbour Bridge erupted for 10 seconds and then literally exploded, followed by a firing at each River of Lightning site, and finally two 24 inch shells and two 16 inch shells were fired from the four main platforms.
Meanwhile, audiences watching the Show on screens at the regional centres of Dubbo, Tamworth, Wagga-Wagga, Port Macquarie and Grafton experienced their own 15 minute show cued to start as the Sydney show concluded.
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So, what is a Pyrotechnic Shell?
Fireworks manufacturing companies are extremely secretive about the formulas they use. Overseas, where there are literally thousands of fireworks factories, cases of industrial espionage are not uncommon!
In simple terms a pyrotechnic shell is paper-based container packed with gunpowder and chemicals. Gunpowder is used to launch the firework into the air, and to explode it when it reaches its required height.
Chemicals include:
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Loading a 24” shell of the type used for the Closing Night (Photo courtesy of Foti International Fireworks)
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Oxidisers such as Potassium Nitrate, Potassium Perchlorate, Strontium Nitrate; and
- Fuels such as Red Gum, Charcoal Sulphur, and Aluminium.
Various colours are achieved by mixing various combinations of chemicals.
- The grand daddy of fireworks is the 24 inch shell which
- takes 3 months to construct
- weighs 75kg, including 10kg of paper
- requires 16kg of gunpowder to launch it from within a 3m high, 750 kg mortar
- rises 370 m above its launch pad and then bursts with a diameter of 400m
Over 200 different types of pyrotechnic products were used for the Olympics Show.
Who did the Show?
The Olympic Coordination Authority (OCA) managed the Olympic-related operations outside the Olympic venues, including management of Olympic related festivities in the City.
OCA in turn appointed David Atkins Enterprises P/L (DAE), in association with Ignatius Jones and McLachlan Lister P/L, to provide artistic direction and production services for the Show.
Two leading Australian pyrotechnic companies, Foti International Fireworks (Foti) and Syd Howard Fireworks International (SHFI), were contracted to design and fire separate integrated displays for the Show.
Fotis were responsible for:
- the River of Lightning,
- “Rings of Fire” displays,
- Darling Harbour displays, and
- regional displays at Dubbo and Wagga Wagga
For the “Rings of Fire” displays, Foti acted as prime contractor to four international companies representing the various continents of the Olympic Rings
- Haga Fireworks Company of Sendai, Miyagi, Japan (Asia);
- Pyro Spectacular of Gallo Manor of Johannesburg, South Africa (Africa);
- Pirotecnia Ricardo Caballer SA of Godella of Valencia, Spain (Europe);
- Alonzo Fireworks Display Inc. of Mechanicville, New York (Americas)
- Foti International Fireworks (Oceania)
Syd Howard Fireworks International (SHFI) was responsible for:
- the Harbour Bridge,the City Buildings, and
- the regional displays at Port Macquarie, Grafton and Tamworth.
At the height of the Show, the DAE team involved a crew of over 120 personnel and the pyrotechnic contractors provided about 60 Australian and 16 International pyrotechnicians.
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Part of the Rings of Fire display by Foti International Fireworks (Photo by Suzuki)
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Key Tasks of the Artistic Director/Producer
The DAE/Ignatius Jones/McLachlan Lister team was given four months to produce the Show. Between June and September 2000, they:
- Created the artistic concept
The creative concept for the Show was developed in three consecutive stages:
- Firstly, Ignatius Jones and David Atkins developed the preliminary concept, which is similar to the description of the Show outlined above.
- Secondly, Ignatius Jones and Pee Wee Ferris composed the music for the Show, which sadly was transmitted at very low volume for much of the television broadcast.
- Thirdly, the pyrotechnic companies took the creative concept and music and choreographed pyrotechnic effects on a shell by shell basis.
Once the pyrotechnic effects were finalised, manual and computer cues for each shell or groups of shells were time sequenced and voice over cueing instructions were synchronised with the music. These cues literally give the pyrotechnicians instructions as to when to “push the button” (e.g. “thirty second call”, “1...now”) for each of the hundreds of manual firings that occurred during the Show. Most of the bridge effects were computer controlled, but all the other firing sites were manually controlled.
Dealing with the constant development and refinement of the creative concept was a significant production challenge. Different concepts such as pyrotechnic displays fired from other building icons and from large ships sailing down the Harbour were fully developed and discounted before the scope was locked down just three or four weeks before the Show.
- Negotiated the fireworks contracts and acted as Contract Superintendent
Due to time constraints and to reduce delivery risks, the two leading Australian contractors were invited to participate in selected components of the Show. A pre-agreed fixed budget was negotiated for delivery of each of these components in accordance with the original creative concept. This “decide the price before the detail is known” approach worked well on this project because two Australian and four International pyrotechnic companies were essentially competing with each other in front of a huge international audience.
- Selected the firing sites and negotiated access agreements for each site- The Show involved the negotiation of access agreements for 26 land-based sites. These comprised:
- 8 of the 24 “River of Lightning” sites,
- 1 of the main harbour firing sites (Cockatoo Island),
- White Bay wharf as the main barge loading site,
- Sydney Harbour Bridge,
- 7 CBD/North Sydney buildings
- 2 buildings and Pyrmont Bridge at Darling Harbour,
- and five Regional sites.
Each of these agreements involved different issues and challenges. The DAE team had to convince the Roads and Traffic Authority and OCA that it was safe to “blow up” the Olympic Rings with Silver Wave “Mines”. The RTA engineers were justifiably concerned that lateral dynamic loading transferred to the Rings and support structure could impart unacceptable lateral loading on the main vertical hangers. SHFI carried out a controlled test of the Silver Wave Mine shell and measured the dynamic loading profile. This was fed into a finite element analysis of the Rings, compliments of Professor Samali at the University of Technology, and out popped a result that made everyone much more comfortable.
- Coordinated the involvement of Government and Olympic authorities
Government and Olympics Inc. played a big part in the Show. OCA supervised the activities of DAE and coordinated other aspects of the Event including the Olympic Live Sites, crowd control, and the Lighting show.
Waterways played a key part in agreeing the exclusion zone and harbour operating procedures, granting DAE an Aquatic Licence, promoting these procedures, and then policing the exclusion zone on the night of the Show.
The Olympic Security Command Centre, Waterways, and the Police Air Wing were all represented in the DAE Control Room on the night of the Show to ensure rapid response to any emergencies.
Other key authorities involved included: NSW Fire Brigade, Local Councils, ORTA, RTA, Workcover, CASA, Air Services Australia, Parks and Wildlife, Interim Sydney Harbour Trust, Defence and the RAAF.
- Procured all barge and support vessels for the Show
23 Barges of various sizes, 20 Tugs and support vessels were hired for the Show. Procuring sufficient barges was a significant challenge. The previous Millennium New Years Eve Show had enjoyed access to a number of barges used for the Northside Storage Tunnel Project, most of which had been re-deployed to Asia. Sufficient areas of firing platforms were achieved through securing access to Cockatoo Island, and essentially exhausting Sydney Harbour’s entire stock of large barges.
- Broadcast a secure sound feed for the music and firing cues
Perhaps the most critical task in the conduct of the Show was ensuring each pyrotechnician was able to hear the cues required to complete his or her particular firings.
This particular show was made even more complex because so many contractors and firing positions were involved, so the cues were broken up and recorded onto an eight track tape for: Soundtrack (L&R), SHFI Bridge, SHFI Buildings, Foti main, Foti Darling Harbour, American and Spanish, Japan and Spain.
The communications equipment included 153 digital radios, 100 noise-cancelling headsets, and 80 FM radios. The music and cues were broadcast to the pyrotechnicians on several “constant transmit” channels over the Sydney Olympic Radio Network (SORN). Various levels of redundancy were built in to ensure certainty of feed:
- Three tape machines ran in parallel - two in the DAE Control Room and one in the Olympic Stadium Control Room;
- In case of tape failure, Stage Management personnel were in place to provide manual cues.
- Various levels of redundancy were built in to the SORN network;
- In case of SORN failure, the cues were also broadcast an FM signal to radios carried by each pyrotechnician; and
- All these procedures were tested during two communications specific rehearsals, a full dress rehearsal and a comprehensive process of pre-Show checks.
- Prepare a detailed production schedule for the Show
Pre-production and Production Schedules were developed in significant detail and continuously updated. The Production Schedule was the bible for the Show. Final Schedules for the last few days before the Show literally scheduled tasks every few minutes. These schedules were tested and re-tested during rehearsals and were the main document to monitor on-time delivery for the Show. For instance, on the night before the Show, a full dress rehearsal was run, and one of the key objectives was to deploy personnel to all 24 river of lightning sites to verify the adequacy of logistics timings built in to the schedules.
- Provided a Control Room and stage management staff to “Call the Show”
The DAE Control Room was located on the top floor of Grosvenor Place, providing an unparalleled view of all firing sites. Specialist Site Operations Managers controlled bump-in and bump-out tasks and specialist Stage Managers ran the Show from the Control Room. The Control Room also housed all the music and cues broadcasting equipment, emergency services authorities and representatives of the pyrotechnic companies.
Key tasks of the Site Operations Manager pre-Show were to:
- check and monitor progress of all site-based activities and deployments
- take action to correct any incomplete or incorrect site activities and deployments
- direct Emergency Services to deal with emergencies Pre-Show
- check the progress of transporting all people, plant, materials and pyro to sites
The DAE crew was responsible for transporting pyro teams to each of the 24 River of Lightning sites and the main barge sites and coordinating all the barge movements. At each land based site, twenty four hour security was established as soon as the pyro was installed.
Once the Pyrotechnician called in to Site Operations Manager to advise that the site was operational and ready to go to standby, Stage Management took control of the Show. Their key tasks were to:
- oversee the final testing of the control room
- manage all constant transmit testing prior to the show
- monitor wind speeds and weather patterns and advise site reps. of conditions
- receive all communications from site reps.
- delegate action to deal with requests from site reps.
- direct all pyrotechnicians to switch to their respective constant transmit channel
- direct action on communications emergencies
- monitor the stadium time code
- participate in constant transmit testing
- cue the start the show tape and back-up systems
- confirm the F1-11 call with the RAAF
- call cues for harbour bridge “kill switch”
- call all manual cues and monitors time code cues for call of transfer to backup operation
During the Show, the Site Operations Manager monitored and directed barge movements and dealt with any instructions from Stage Management to deal with emergencies. After the Show, the Site Operations Manager performed the same tasks in reverse to bump-out the show.
- Ensured satisfactory occupational health and safety practices were employed by all participants
Occupational health and safety of the crews and the public was of paramount importance. DAE established a strict regime of safety planning, compliance and auditing and the Show was completed without a single safety incident or injury.
A range of legislation applied to the conduct of the show:
- Occupational Health & Safety Act, 2000 NSW
- Protection of the Environment Operational Act, 1997 NSW
- The Contaminants Land Management Act, 1997
- Australian Standard 2187.4 – Pyrotechnics – Outdoor Displays
- NSW Government Dangerous Goods (General) Regulations, 1999
- WorkCover Authority of NSW Safety Alert 00/10, 23 May 2000
Key safety risks managed under these arrangements were:
- Faulty Product
- Fire
- Shipping container dropped
- Accidental explosion
- Machinery accident
- Unauthorised entry to exclusion zone
- Injury to an observer
- Malfunction during firing
A risk assessment plan was drawn up and followed for each loading and firing site.
The NSW Fire Brigade was notified of the times and locations of the Show and was stationed at strategic locations during the firing of each display.
For Land Based firing sites:
- Site specific operations plans were prepared for the Cockatoo Island and White Bay loading areas.
- Restriction zones were established at all land based River of Lightning and NSW Regional firing sites.
- Where necessary, land based zones were fenced off and guarded by security personnel during the set up and firing of the Show.
For Water Based firing sites:
- An exclusion zone was established for each pyrotechnic firing location.
- Water based firing zones were identified by mooring buoys and patrolled by Waterways Officers and Sydney Water Police.
- The safety exclusion zones provided the fireworks contractors with clear water to site firing barges in order to ensure that there were no boats or personnel within the fallout area for pyrotechnic debris.
- The water based exclusion zone was established from Cockatoo Island in the west to a point just east of Garden Island.
- A separate circular exclusion zone was established around each firing barge.
- Crews on these sites were provided with large signs and loudhailers to assist in warning boat owners away from the sites.
For Sydney Harbour Bridge:
- RTA closed several lanes during the Show to keep traffic clear of the firing area.
- RTA closed the public footpath from 6.00 pm on the night of the Show.
- BridgeWalk tour groups did not operate once pyrotechnics were loaded onto the Bridge.
One of the four main firing platforms was a 100m x 25m floating dock
What made the Show a Success
- Getting the right people and organisation in place, up-front
The quality of the Show was directly related to the quality of the people engaged for the Show. The pyrotechnic contractors, Syd Howard Fireworks International, Foti International, and the International Contractors, each produced a stunning result. Many of the DAE crew had previous experience in the Millennium and other New Years Eve Shows on Sydney Harbour. These resources were organised in a structured manner and the work plans were well communicated and controlled. Everybody understood their role and got on with the job.
- Attention to detail
“Extensions of time” do not exist in the event industry, for obvious reasons - so a different attitude to on-time management is required. Running the Show on time required planning and coordinating all the tasks at a high level of detail. Checks, cross checks were made continuously to ensure that:
- the resources were in place to do the work,
- everyone had sufficient time to complete their tasks
- sufficient allowances for contingencies were built-in, and
- everybody knew and was working to “the Schedule”
Dedicated resources were employed who did nothing else but monitor on-time achievement of the various tasks. Apart from achieving a largely trouble free Show, the whole task was also delivered under the OCA’s budget.
- Expect the unexpected
Perhaps the single most important factor in running a Show like this is having the nous to figure what might go wrong, and then having a plan to not only prevent the problem, but to have both a back-up plan and a back-up for when the back-up fails!
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