Ballast systems secure your ground-supported structures. This is especially important for outdoor stages that are subject to winds, and offset structures like delay towers and video hangs.
Different types of ballasts have their own strengths, useful for different situations. The three main types we carry are concrete ballasts, water ballasts, and UNI-BLOCs (which come in two different sizes).
Concrete ballasts are large concrete blocks that must be moved by forklift – often by anchoring to a top rebar anchor point with steel and straps. Although anchor points are common, concrete ballasts can come both with and without these them.
Concrete ballasts work well in places where, once they are placed, they won’t need to be moved until loadout. This includes places such as next to a stage, outside of the stage footprint, or on planks in your stage baseout, near where vertical towers will be placed.
Water ballasts use the weight of water to hold down structural elements. There are different types of water ballasts, such as water totes and folding frames. Once in place and leveled, you fill them with water. This water must be properly drained for loadout.
With each cubic foot of water weighing over 62lbs, water ballasts are good for when you need a lot of counterweight, such as for top-heavy tall vertical lighting or spot towers, with a high center of gravity.
UNI-BLOC is our patented stage ballast designed specifically for the live-event industry. With fork and pallet jack pick points on all four sides, truss connections on the sides and top, and a compact footprint, UNI-BLOC is made to work with and into your indoor and outdoor stage design.
It is also highly adjustable with a top-floating plate that allows for minute adjustments, even after truss is attached.
UNI-BLOC also comes in two sizes – Original and Jr.
