Sports/Olympics / 2008 Beijing Olympics

Main structure of National Aquatics Center topped off
(BOCOG)
Updated: 2006-04-12 10:58

The main structure of the National Aquatics Center, a major competition venue of the 2008 Olympic Games, was topped off today.


The last structural part is dropped in place. [BOCOG]
The Center, dubbed the Water Cube because of its state of the art architecture, is scheduled to produce 32 gold medals in the sport of swimming during the Beijing Olympiad in August 2008.

Located at the Olympic Green, it has a seating capacity of 17, 000, including 11,000 temporary ones.

Construction of the project started on 24 December 2003. It is the only sports venues of the Beijing Games funded by contributions of Chinese compatriots of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

The builders of the project have resolved a series of technical problems including lack of steel resources, difficulty in processing structures, complexity in the structures' space positioning and high standard of melding. They completed the installation work 45 days ahead of schedule while ensuring safety and quality.

At the moment the project is under membrane structure installation, and electromechanical and fitment processes. The whole project is expected to be completed in October 2007.