Nevskoe Vremya`s correspondents hadn`t been to the Petersburg football construction site for a year, and when they approached the site it looked like little had changed: the stadium was hidden behind a big pile of dirt remaining from the old Kirov stadium, which the builders are using to fill in two levels under the stands in the new stadium. But inside the stadium the changes that have taken place in the last 3 months are very visible.
A year ago, before stopping construction, the stadium columns were raised only to the level of the first above-ground floor, about 14 meters above the football field. The builders have already built 2 new floors in the first quarter of 2011.
The project started moving faster after Glavgosexpertiza (The State Construction Approval Board) approved all corrections to the project. After that the total area of the stadium increased from 220 to 281 thousand square meters. The project of the upper part of the stadium grew several times due to new levels being included in the project, as well as escalators being installed to take visitors up to the stadium.
Two complete floors of the stadium have been built in the hill on which the stadium is being built. Kisho Kurokawa`s project for the stadium called for the underground floors to be used only for technical needs. The new project calls for building a full-fledged cafe under the stands, toilets, souvenir shops, and modern safety equipment. Furthermore, the hill under the stadium will have additional areas for multi-functional use of the stadium, for example for holding concerts. People will be able to come onto the football field when concerts are held. The new stadium will be able to hold 84,000 people for concerts – 16,000 on the field and 68,000 in the stands.
The most advanced part of the stadium in terms of construction is the northern stand of the future arena. This stand has already started to take the form of a bowl with steps poured in concrete. The figures of the workers look tiny from the height of 25 meters, and the upper levels will hang over the rectangle of the field from a height of 42 meters. So only youngsters and Zenit`s fans with the best eyesight should buy tickets to the upper levels.
The highest point in the stadium will be 56 meters high, and the last 14 meters will be made up of the retractable roof. The moveable roof is not only the most expensive part of the stadium (5.5 billion rubles), but also the hardest piece of the stadium to install (12 months). Other projects are being planned and built on Krestovsky Island as well, which makes a lot of headaches for the stadium builders. But there has already been positive progress in 2011.
The retractable roof weighs 15 thousand tons, and the majority of this is made up of metal constructions.
Zenit`s new stadium on Krestovsky Stadium should be built by November 15, 2012.
No more than 300 construction workers were working on the project in 2010, while in March of 2011 this number increased by 4 times. This summer the new arena will have up to 3,000 workers.
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