The final piece of an arch on Qatar’s Khalifa International Stadium has been put into place, as organizers advance on plans to prepare for the 2022 World Cup.
The 40-year-old stadium is located at the Aspire Zone and is being renovated to meet FIFA regulations.
Khalifa International Stadium arch is completed with last 22-metre segment https://t.co/aATsSRBPJZ pic.twitter.com/gtY56P13bB
— Road to 2022 (@roadto2022) June 30, 2016
It used to have one single, iconic arch. During its overhaul, that was removed and replaced with two arches.
Painstaking process
In a statement, tournament organizers said adding the final piece to one of the arches was no small feat. The 22m piece was installed at a height of 120m with a 600 metric ton “mega crane.”
The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SCDL) added:
“Prior to lifting, the segment was tilted to the required angle at the ground level using a smaller crane.
Other major elements such as bottom, top compression rings and column segments were pre-assembled at site also using smaller crawler cranes.”
To even get the massive pieces used to assemble the top of the arch on site, 18m-long trailers were needed to deliver them and 100 and 250 ton mobile cranes were used to unload them.
The next step will be to add the roof, the stadium’s project manager Mansoor Al-Muhannadi said.
Khalifa Stadium will be handed over the SCDL by the end of this year. In 2022, it is expected to host the quarter-final World Cup matches.
The venue will have capacity for 40,000 spectators and be the first World Cup stadium to be lit solely by LED lighting, according to the SCDL.
It will also house Qatar’s 3-2-1 Olympic and Sport Museum.
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