When officials at Maryland Stadium Authority got the news that the Cleveland Browns would be moving to Baltimore, they dusted off old plans for a new stadium and went to work. The result is a $220-million home for the National Football League team, renamed the Ravens, that bears an unmistakable family resemblance to the Orioles' baseball park, less than a mile away. Ravens Stadium at Camden Yards and Oriole Park at Camden Yards share a parking lot.

Time became a key constraint. The stadium had to be completed for the 1998 football season, at the time just a little more than two years awayand being even a week late for the opening kickoff was not an option. To ensure the schedule could be met, officials awarded contracts to companies with experience in stadium construction. They, in turn, decided up front that precast concrete components would provide the flexibility and speed needed to meet the deadline.

Work started in 1996 after updating the original working plans, which had been drawn up in anticipation of landing an expansion team earlier. (That attempt failed, with franchises being awarded to Jacksonville, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C. Both of those stadiums were constructed with precast concrete components to meet deadlines.) The design features arches in the stadiums base, in conjunction with an impressive vertical design, which projects a muscular, athletic feel. Upper-deck and end-zone seating were positioned with the corners open, enabling travelers on surrounding elevated roadways to glimpse inside.