Roof of the Olympic Stadium, in Munich - Federal Germany

Abstract

The roof of the Olympic Stadium in Munich is like a gigantic tent on a network of cables, hung from masts, covering an area of 74,800 m². Three stages were followed for building it: 1. Building and erecting the steel masts, and anchoring components. 2. Making and erecting the cable mesh. 3. Placing and welding the acrylic glass roof. The perfect planning of the work should be stressed, as all the cables were supplied on site with their final measurements, marked for easy assembly. The masts are steel tubes, pointed like cones at the end. They are made up of 37 mm thick sheets in the fust and 40 mm in the cones. The diameters reach 2.8 m and the lengths range between 41.1 m and 80 m. These masts rest on neoprene supports, fitted in ball bearings. The metal net is made up of square mesh, measuring 75 cm each side, and is placed in a 457 m long marginal cable. The acrylic roof is 4 mm thick. Sheets were thermally welded to obtain 300x300 m components, which were joined resiliently.