Olympic Statium
The Berlin Olympic Stadium will be the most important venue for the World Championship of Soccer in 2006. This stadium has gone through a lot of changes recently. However, the view from the Bell Tower is still the same. From the tower you can see over the Mayfield to the "Marathontor" (Marathon Arch) into the Olympic Stadium. With all stadium seats now under cover, the appearance of the stadium changed decisively. The roof structure rises for a total of 68 metres above the tiers of seating. Two translucent membranes and a wide glass roof edge section ensure that a lot of light can get inside the stadium. A supporting structure allows the roof to be open at the Marathon Arch, thus leaving a clear sight line to the Bell Tower. 20 roof-supporting columns carry a weight of 3,500 tones of steel. The roof covers a total of 37,000 square metres.
The Berlin stadium - being the largest in Germany - has 76,000 seats under cover. On the middle floor of the Olympic Stadium 113 noble boxes have been installed. The stadium is completed with modern lighting, sound, and information equipment. Press, broadcasting, and television will find optimal working conditions. A variety of restaurants are also modern inside the stadium. Outside the stadium, there are two underground garages with 630 parking spots. Underneath the Marathon Arch is a new subterranean hall, which will be used by athletes to warm up.
A team of architects, engineers, and construction workers were busy for four years (2000-2004) to change this important historic monument into a high-tech stadium. The lower tier of seating in the stadium was demolished and rebuilt at a completely different angle of inclination. The load-bearing structure of the upper tier was extensively refurbished. In summer 2002, the playing field was lowered by 2.65 metres (9 feet); approximately 90,000 cubic metres (3.2 million cu. ft.) of sand was excavated. 70,000 cubic metres (2.5 million cu. ft.) of concrete and 20,000 cubic metres (700,000 cu. ft.) of pre-cast reinforced concrete elements were used, 12,000 cubic metres (424,000 cu. ft.) of concrete was demolished and removed and 30,000 cubic metres (1.1 million cu. ft.) of natural stone was refurbished. The rebuilding costs were 242 million Euro. For more Information have a look at the Homepage - www.olympiastadion-berlin.de