Stadio Olimpico in Rome

Location
Rome
Country
Italy
Year
1988 – 1990
Client
CONI
Area
Sport
Services offered
Structural Engineering

Project description

The Stadio Olimpico in Rome is a multi-purpose sports facility on the slopes of Monte Mario, in the northwestern part of the city. It was designed in 1927 and used in 1937 as backdrop to the Olympic Games of the Fascist era. In 1949 the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) decided to complete it making it the “Stadio dei Centomila”, because it reached a capacity of 100,000 people. In 1960 after the decision that Rome should host the XVII Olympic Games it was renamed Stadio Olimpico. Since then it has hosted the matches of Roma and Lazio, track and field events and extra sports activities such as concerts and performances. Thanks to CEAS, during the 1990 FIFA World Cup, the Stadio Olimpico was completely redeveloped. The bleachers and the curved sectors were reconstructed and extended with reinforced concrete structures, the grandstand was extended with reinforced concrete and wooden structures and the all the other structures were statically adjusted. The “new” Stadio Olimpico was equipped with a tensile structure roof supported by a big steel reticular ring resting on several steel columns with independent foundations.

The numbers

72.698 seats

33.500 m2

14th stadium in the world

ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT

Cooperation to the independent design control.
Development of expert advice for calculation models.
Assistance to the static testing of the new stands and of the roof structures.

IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF THE PROJECT

The new structure project, designed by Italprogetti of Rome and by studio Majowiecki of Bologna, was checked independently by Mr Leo Finzi, together with CEAS cooperation to establish the tensile structure stress status and for the static verification of the reticular ring structures and of the cable system. These calculations were performed from the beginning, using programs other than those used by designers, by developing a new elastic linear finite element model, with geometric non-linearity, including the external reticular ring, the radial tensile structures and the internal stabilizing ring. The results were compared with the ones obtained by designers, sharing and discussing with them the main design choices. CEAS also dealt with all the testing phases of all the new structures during construction