2013 SU Update: Aquatics Palace to be commissioned in August, Football Stadium in December 2012

KAZAN – Deputies of the State Council of theRepublic of Tatarstan inspected the construction progress of the 2013 Summer Universiade.

Two major venues of the 27th Summer Universiade inKazan, the Aquatics Palace and the 45,000-seat football stadium, will be commissioned in August and December 2012 respectively, Deputy Minister of Construction, Architecture and Housing of Tatarstan Vladimir Kudryashov said.

A visiting meeting of the Tatarstan State Council’s commission for implementing youth policy, encouraging a healthy lifestyle and assisting the preparations of the 27th World University Summer Games was held in the headquarters of the football stadium under construction. Before the meeting chaired by the head of the commission Evgeny Efimov started, the deputies had inspected the two main venues and had become familiar with their construction progress.

It is expected that 65 sports venues will be used during the 2013 SU, 37 of which will be newly constructed and 28 of them are subjected for reconstruction, as required by FISU regulations. 26 out of 30 facilities that are financed from the federal budget, are already constructed, 1st, 2nd and 3rd start-up facilities of the UniversiadeVillage are put into operation.

The construction of two large sports facilities, the Aquatics Palace and the 45,000-seat football stadium that form a single cluster, and of theUniversiadeVillageis underway at the moment. The Gymnastics Centre is expected to be completed at the end of the year. 35 new venues, the construction of which is financed from the republican budget, are scheduled to be erected and reconstructed in the years of 2011-2012.

The Aquatics Palace, which is scheduled to be delivered next August, is purposed to host the Universiade’s events and the 2015 FINA World Championship. AfterKazanwon the bid to host the 2015 World Aquatics Championship, the venue’s design underwent a few changes. The updated project of the complex will have three pools (two 50x25m pools and one 33x25m diving pool), a fitness centre, etc. Another result of the venue’s redesign is that the depth of the central pool will be increased from 2.2 to 3 metres for the 2015 synchronized swimming events.

The Deputy Minister promised that all the measures had been taken under the Accessible Environment prоgram to make the sports venue accessible for disabled groups of the population. Besides, to ensure equal access for athletes with physical handicaps, the facility will also be equipped with special elevators for disabled swimmers.

The foundation of the Aquatics Palacewill be a concrete slab, laid on 5,000 piles driven into the soil, Vladimir Kurdryashov said. According to experts, this venue is to become a unique venue due to both its beauty and functional versatility. As of today, over 300 people and 18 pieces of equipment are involved in the construction of the venue.

While getting familiar with the construction site of the football stadium, Tatarstan State Council deputies could see the outline of the stands that will seat 45,000 people. «The stands will be open. The total weight of steel structures, that will be mounted over the heads of the spectators, will reach 10,500 tons», the Deputy Minister said.

It was decided not to erect a retractable roof over the stadium, otherwise it increased the construction costs by 25%. The stadium will have a 100% natural grass field, as required by FIFA. The stands with the seating capacity of 45,000 spectators will be able to hold a quarterfinal of the 2018 FIFAWorld Cup. To make the sports venue more accessible for people with mobility handicaps, it will be equipped with special elevators, runways, etc.

At the end of November two unique LR 1750 cranes with a maximum load-carrying capacity of 750 tons will be delivered in the construction site of the stadium, Vladimir Kudryashov said. It is expected that by next summer they will have assembled the heavy steel structures of the stadium’s roof beam. Such cranes that are operated in different construction sites of the country can be counted on the fingers of one hand. At present 1,300 constructors from Tatarstan, neighboring republics,Turkey and Belaruswork three shifts here, 26 units of construction equipment are employed.

After the inspection, Evgeny Efimov said in his interview:«The construction of Universiade venues is well underway. Our main goal is to finish the preparations for the World University Games in time. Today we saw with our own eyes that everything is going according to the plan. The main thing is to keep the tempo set for the construction.»

(Source: Tatar Inform Information Agency & Media Department of Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate)