Rio 2016; Construction update Barra Olympic Park (2)

Photo: EOM/Renato Sette Camara
Photo: EOM/Renato Sette Camara

Rio 2016 Games venues taking shape as work on Barra Olympic Park progresses

Carioca Arenas and Olympic Tennis Centre are among the most developed, with spectator and competition areas already visible

Barra Olympic Park, which will be the heart of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, is continuing to take shape. As building work progresses, the first spectator stands and competition areas are already visible, providing glimpses of what it will be like when the world’s best athletes battle for medals there in less than two years’ time.

“Significant progress has been made and we are happy to see that work is proceeding as planned, and in some cases, is ahead of schedule,” said Alexandre Techima, Rio 2016’s Infrastructure Integration Director. “Venue construction has progressed a lot over the past few months and the structures of a number of arenas are already visible, such as the Carioca Arenas and the Olympic Tennis Centre, as well as the International Broadcasting Centre (IBC), Main Press Centre (MPC) and hotel.”

Photo: EOM
Photo: EOM

The three adjacent Carioca Arenas have seen the most progress. Competition areas have already been concreted and the initial structures for the spectator stands are in place. During the Games, the three venues (previously known as Olympic Halls 1, 2 and 3) will host four Olympic sports – basketball, judo, fencing and taekwondo – and four Paralympic sports – wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, boccia and judo.

Work is most advanced on Carioca Arena 3, where the stand structure has been completed and work is underway on fitting the steel support structures for the roof.

“We have been working very hard to ensure that the venues are designed to meet all the requirements for hosting top-level sports competitions and we are very pleased to see the buildings leave the drawing board and become reality. Now it is possible to envision how they will be operated during the Games,” said Josué Moraes, Rio 2016’s sport group manager for taekwondo and judo.

The Olympic Tennis Centre is also taking shape. Work on the centre court’s spectator stands, which will hold 10,000 people, is progressing well and the preparatory earthworks for the other courts has been completed, ready for surfacing.

The foundations of the Future Arena, the temporary venue that will host the handball and goalball competitions, are nearing completion. Work on the arena’s steel structure is already under way, with the pillars and beams being installed. One of Rio 2016’s main social legacies, the arena will be dismantled after the Games and its parts will be used to construct four public schools in Rio de Janeiro.

Rio Olympic Arena and Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre, which have been operational since 2007, are scheduled to undergo modifications in the first quarter of 2015. Meanwhile, foundations are being laid for the Rio Olympic Velodrome and Olympic Aquatics Stadium.

While Barra Olympic Park’s nine competition venues will host 24 sports, the site will also be home to two important venues for ensuring that fans all over the world can enjoy the Games: the International Broadcasting Centre (IBC) and Main Press Centre (MPC). Work on the steel frame and concrete levels of the IBC are in the final stages. The foundations of the MPC have been completed and structural work is pressing forward on the basement, ground floor and mezzanine.

Work on the general infrastructure inside the Olympic Park is also progressing well. More than 10.5km of drainage, 5.3km of sewage system, 8.3km of water supply lines, 5km of fire prevention lines, 5km of lighting, 9.9km of medium-voltage grid and 21.9km of telecommunications lines have been installed.

The time-lapse video below shows how the work is transforming the former Rio racing car track into the Barra Olympic Park site:

 

Source / More photos: rio2016.com

Rio 2016; Construction of Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Village 50 per cent complete

Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro
Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro

Construction of Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Village 50 per cent complete

Work enters the home straight, with 17 out of 31 buildings erected

Construction of the apartment complex that will become the Olympic and Paralympic Village for the Rio 2016 Games has passed the 50 per cent completion mark. Based in Barra da Tijuca, in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, the Village will have capacity for more than 18,000 guests, including athletes and officials. Construction started in July 2012 and the buildings will be finished in the first half of 2016.

“The project is progressing very well and it is exciting to see the Village take shape,” said Rio 2016’s Olympic and Paralympic Village Director, Mario Cilenti. “It is going to be incredible to have the best athletes in the world staying in one place, here in Rio, for the first Olympic and Paralympic Games in South America. We are doing everything to ensure they have the best possible facilities so they can focus all their attention on producing their best performances.”

Seventeen of the 31 buildings in the complex have already been erected and construction will be completed on the remaining 14 towers by the end of this year, with internal finishings to be done in 2015. The next stage will be installing the ‘overlay’ – the process of transforming a future residential complex into the Olympic Village. These works include the construction of a temporary medical centre, cafeteria with space for 5,000 people and gym, among other amenities.

Another challenge is guaranteeing the complete accessibility of the Village for the Paralympic athletes, who will arrive a few days after the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games on 21 August 2016. The opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games will take place on 7 September 2016.

“We have two to three days, at most, to carry out the transition from Olympic to Paralympic Village,” Cilenti said. “To do this, everything has to be thought about and built now. There will be around 700 accessible bathrooms, in addition to the common areas, which must meet the needs of not just wheelchair users, but also athletes with a visual impairment and with reduced mobility, amongst others.”

There are currently 6,500 workers involved in the project although this number will rise to 8,000 by the end of the year. They have already used an amount of concrete equivalent to four Maracanã Stadiums.

The 31 buildings will be divided into seven condominiums with a total of 3,604 apartments, 10,160 bedrooms, 10,150 bathrooms and more than 18,000 beds. The total area will be 475,000m² and during the Games, about 10,000 people (staff, contractors and volunteers) will work in the operation of the Village.

“It is as if we are building a large hotel that will host the best athletes in the world, who will come from more than 200 countries to live together for a few glorious weeks in Rio,” said Cilenti.

 

Source & more more images of the Village construction works: Rio2016.com

Rio 2016; Planting of grass begins on Olympic Golf Course

Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro

 

Planting of grass begins on the Rio 2016 Olympic Golf Course. The process, considered to be the final stage in building a golf course, began on the first of the 18 holes.

The Olympic Golf Course in Barra de Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, is taking shape. On Tuesday 20 May the process of planting grass began on the first of the 18 holes, hole number 8. Grassing is considered to be the final stage in building a golf course, with a predicted timeline for grass growth of 11 months.

Source / read more: www.rio2016.com

 

Rio 2016; The return of Golf