Beijing, January 4 (Wang Hao, Guo Chaokai) In December, Beijing has fully entered the winter, and the outdoor temperature once exceeded minus 10 degrees Celsius. On Xiaohaituo Mountain in Yanqing District, the "two museums and one village" of the Beijing Winter Olympics are making final preparations. The National Bobsleigh Center Circuit, like a giant dragon, lurks in anticipation of the event in a few decades.
The National Bobsleigh Center Circuit, also known as the "Snow Dragon", is the 17th bobsleigh track in the world, the 3rd in Asia and the 1st in China, with a total length of 1975 meters, a total of 16 bends, and a vertical drop of 121 meters. At the Beijing Winter Olympics, which kicks off next February, a passionate bobsleigh race will be staged here.
Yang Jinkai, facility manager of the National Bobsleigh Center, introduced that "Snow Dragon" has many special features in track design. For example, it has a "circular circle that is a little more than 360 degrees and has a diameter greater than 30 meters." ”
Data chart: On October 25, the "Meet in Beijing" 2021/2022 International Snowmobile Federation Bobsleigh and Steel Frame Bobsleigh Time Trial Race was officially launched at the National Bobsleigh Center in Yanqing, Beijing, which was the first international event held after the completion of the National Bobsleigh Center venue. Photo by China News Service reporter Tomita
He introduced that the design of this swing makes athletes face greater challenges when exiting corners. "A greater gyration means that the loss of speed may be a little smaller, and a small loss of (speed) means that the difference between the out-of-corner speed and the in-corner speed may not be so large, and then the next slide is more challenging, and soon it will start to go downhill, which may be more dangerous."
Snow Dragon has held a series of testing activities since October this year. Some foreign athletes have given high praise to their own design after experiencing the track in the field. Yang Jinkai said: "[Foreign athletes] feel that the combination of our track and natural terrain is very good. ”
Previously, Christopher Schweiger, executive chairman of the International Bobsleigh Federation, said after a field trip: "The National Bobsleigh Center is unique in the world, and the architectural design of the venue is perfectly integrated with the natural environment. ”
On December 29, 2020, aerial photography of the National Bobsleigh Center in Yanqing Division. The National Bobsleigh Center adopts the world's top track design, which is the new venue with the highest design difficulty and the greatest construction difficulty among the Venues of the Winter Olympics Engineering Competition in Beijing. Photo by China News Service reporter Jiang Qiming
After the completion of the "Snow Dragon" has been affirmed from all over the world, but many people do not know how many difficulties the construction personnel have overcome during the design to the completion period.
Yang Jinkai introduced that the location of "Snow Tour Dragon" comprehensively considered many factors such as traffic conditions, facility planning, event needs and post-race utilization, and finally chose the current location, but the geological conditions of Xiaohaituo Mountain caused many problems for construction.
There are many small rocks under the "Snow Dragon" track, which are very unstable, so piling work must be carried out. "This place can't use machinery because it collapses, so it uses the manual piling method."
In addition, from the outside, the track is like the ice poured inside the concrete tank, but in this concrete tank, there are actually 30 to 80 steel pipes in different stages, and the steel pipes are flowable liquid ammonia, which is used to keep the track low.
Staff are cleaning the track. Photo by Wang Hao
"In those corners, at the beginning in 2017, we couldn't figure out how to make a steel pipe into a bend in the bend, which was a big difficulty at the time." Yang Jinkai said.
Finally, the project's turnkey contractor solved this problem by using a way similar to the shipbuilding process of manufacturing the ship's deck.
Yang Jinkai introduced: "Every other distance we put an axis, and then make a cross-sectional contour line on the axis, which forms something similar to a card slot. Then the steel pipes with a certain elasticity themselves are stuck into the card slot, and after the card is stuck, these originally discontinuous (steel pipes), because of their elasticity, finally form a very smooth surface. ”
Unlike the regular bobsleigh track, the Snow Dragon was built at the southern foot of the mountain range, so that the track will face more sunshine, which is not a good thing to keep the track stable.
Overlooking the "Snow Dragon". Photo by Wang Hao
Yang Jinkai introduced: "In order to reduce the impact of direct sunlight on ground temperature, we used a system called TWPS (Terrain Climate Protection System), which is equivalent to using a large roof along the entire line of the track that has been computer-simulated to play a role in blocking solar radiation and achieving better shading and energy saving effects." ”
After several years of construction, the "Snow Dragon" is ready to welcome visitors from all over the world. In November, after the successful conclusion of the Bobsleigh World Cup in Yanqing, Beijing, China, The President of the International Bobsleigh Federation, Enners Fergulis, issued the National Bobsleigh Center Bobsleigh Track Certification to Beijing Enterprises Group.
After the relevant test activities, the National Bobsleigh Center was also prepared for the protection of the race. Due to the relatively high risk of bobsleigh racing, the medical protection of the event is a top priority.
The snowmobile departs on the track. Image credit: National Bobsleigh Centre
The medical support team of the National Bobsleigh Center is composed of personnel from Peking University People's Hospital and Beijing Emergency Center, and there are currently 82 volunteers, covering medical staff in brain surgery, orthopedics, emergency department, thoracic surgery and other departments. These medical staff have a wealth of experience, and many have participated in the medical protection work of the Beijing Olympic Games or the Wenchuan earthquake.
Zhang Shihu, medical manager of the National Bobsleigh Center, said: "We have a video surveillance system in the command room, if the athlete is injured, we will notify the medical staff of the nearest medical station to carry first aid kits, stretchers, etc. in the first time to arrive at the scene of the accident for first aid." ”
Medical staff will make a preliminary determination of the athlete's injury, and if the injury is serious, it will be quickly transported to the designated hospital by ambulance.
Renderings of the National Bobsleigh Center. Image source: Beijing Municipal Major Office
"From the venue to the designated hospital is 22 kilometers, when the transfer we will notify the transportation department to ensure smooth traffic, basically within 20 minutes we can reach the designated hospital." Zhang Shihu said.
As the Beijing Winter Olympics draw closer, athletes around the world are preparing for the final sprint. In Beijing, the preparations for the Winter Olympics are also making their own efforts to dedicate a wonderful event, and "Snow Dragon" is a microcosm of it.
Looking forward to the best return on everyone's sweat in February next year. (End)