The "Ice Basket Conversion" trilogy: Workers lay insulated "ice quilts" on the ice rink. : Workers lay the basketball court floor. : Converted basketball court. Photo by Fan Di
The transformation of the "Water Cube": cement slabs are laid on the drained pool. : Ice rink substrate for laying curling grounds. : Curling field is set up. Courtesy of Beijing State-owned Assets Corporation
The Beijing Winter Olympics are divided into three competition areas: Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, with a total of 39 venues, including 12 competition venues, 3 training venues and 24 non-competition venues.
Ice ribbons, snow wishes, snow flying... The Beijing Winter Olympics have not yet opened, and those Winter Olympic venues that are both high-value and full of wisdom have attracted the attention of the world.
Multiple temperatures in a single venue
The National Speed Skating Hall will hold a speed skating event during the Beijing Winter Olympics, resulting in a total of 14 gold medals.
Cold, which is what many people experience when watching ice projects on the spot, but the National Speed Skating Hall allows you to stay warm while enjoying "Fast and Furious".
"Through smart management, the National Speed Skating Hall has successfully achieved temperature stratification." Zheng Fang, the general head of the design of the National Speed Skating Hall, introduced that thousands of sensors are set up in different areas such as ice rinks and grandstands, which can monitor the temperature and humidity of different locations in real time, feedback information to the control system, and automatically adjust the air conditioner, dehumidifier and ice machine, so as to achieve accurate control of the temperature of different areas.
The ice surface temperature is about minus 8 degrees Celsius, ensuring the stability of the ice surface quality; the temperature of about 1.5 meters on the ice reaches about 10 degrees Celsius, ensuring the body temperature of the athletes, which is conducive to creating the best sports performance; the audience temperature is about 16 degrees Celsius, creating a comfortable viewing environment.
There is ice hidden under the basketball court
For basketball and music lovers, Wukesong Sports Center is a good place: it is the basketball venue of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the home of the Beijing Shougang men's basketball team, and the iconic venue of Chinese pop music, undertaking more than 80 sports competitions and performing arts events every year, receiving about 1.5 million spectators, and the utilization rate of the venue is as high as 70%, becoming one of the most commercially valuable Olympic heritages.
During the Beijing Winter Olympics, Wukesong Sports Center will undertake the women's ice hockey and men's ice hockey competitions. Through the transformation, this "double Olympic venue" can achieve "ice basket conversion" within 6 hours.
How does the "Ice Basket Conversion" work? First of all, the ice dams, boundary walls, baffles, etc. on both sides of the ice surface are removed, and a layer of "ice quilt" is laid on the ice surface, which can protect the ice surface and prevent moisture. It is then covered with a gray "carpet", and then built on the floor and basketball hoop.
"Basketball players don't even feel that there's a piece of ice lurking under the floor." Wang Shuxia, special assistant to the chairman of Bloomage International Group, said.
In addition, Wukesong Sports Center creatively used ice dam technology to change the original ice rink with a size of 30 meters × 60 meters into a 26-meter × 60-meter ice rink that meets the requirements of the Beijing Winter Olympics. After the renovation is completed, the venue can be switched according to needs, with 30 meters× 60 meters and 26 meters × 60 meters of two sizes of convertible ice rink, becoming a general-purpose venue that can host ice hockey, short track speed skating, figure skating three events, which is the first in China.
A curling track is set up above the pool
The National Aquatics Center "Water Cube" is the iconic venue of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, undertaking swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and other water competitions. During the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, curling and wheelchair curling events will be hosted here. In 2019, the venue completed the conversion of swimming pool and ice rink for the first time, becoming the first venue in the world to complete the "water ice conversion", realizing the gorgeous transformation from "water cube" to "ice cube".
To set up a curling track on the pool, you first drain the water in the pool and then set up a convertible frame in the pool.
As early as 2017, the construction team of China Construction First Bureau cooperated with the National Aquatics Center and domestic and foreign experts to conduct relevant tests, and finally selected the current steel structure plus lightweight concrete precast panel structure system. "Building a shelf" in the pool may seem simple, but the design considerations and installation accuracy of the convertible steel structure of this ice rink are very precise. How to ensure that the ice surface is stable and firm, but also meets the requirements of the Winter Olympic Games? The secret is hidden in the convertible steel structure that supports the ice surface. It is made of 2600 thin-walled H-beams of 3 m high and 2 m long, each beam and column is equipped with a column foot, and each connection point is equipped with removable high-strength screws to ensure that the steel frame is strong and strong. After the erection of the frame, the construction team conducted a load test, and the final test results showed that the maximum deformation of the steel structure was only 1.6 mm with an increase of 1 ton of load per square meter, which met the design requirements of less than 3 mm.
As part of the "skeleton" that supports the ice surface, the construction of the ice foundation layer is also very important. First of all, a layer of PE film should be laid on the surface of the concrete precast panel, and then two layers of extruded insulation board should be laid, and a layer of PE film and anti-slip layer should be laid on top of the insulation board, and the top layer is the ice pipe rack.
Yang Qiyong, general manager of the National Aquatics Center of Beijing State-owned Assets Corporation, introduced that after the Transformation of the National Aquatics Center from "Water Cube" to "Ice Cube", it will have the conditions to host ice events, water events and large-scale commercial activities. After the race, the three seasons of spring, summer and autumn will become the "Water Cube" for water sports, and in winter, it will be transformed into the "Ice Cube" for ice sports.
Typography: Zhang Fangman
People's Daily (2022-01-25 11th edition)