The cover of the Maracanã will be built as from September 2012

The installation of the new cover of the Maracanã should get under way in September 2012, six months ahead of the time frame planned for the completion of the refurbishment work, which should take place on February 28th, 2013. According to the consortium responsible for the work, comprising the companies Odebrecht, Andrade Gutierrez and Delta, the structure will be installed within the space of six weeks.

Consisting of canvas structures tensioned by steel structures, fiberglass and Teflon, this cover will have a useful life of 50 years. According to the Contracts Manager of the Consortium, Carlos Zaeven, it will be supported at the 60 modules of the stadium. “The Maracanã has four main pillars, and the cover is like a large bicycle wheel”, Mr. Zaeven said during a technical visit which is part of the Rio de Janeiro Road Show, promoted by the 2014 Portal and also by the Architecture and Engineering Trade Union (Sindicato da Arquitetura e da Engenharia - Sinaenco).

During five and a half months, the former marquee of the stadium was removed in four stages, by 450-tonne cranes. After completion, some beams of the structure started to be removed. In January of this year, a study confirmed that the cover constructed between January and June 1950 had deteriorated and was about to collapse.

The demolition of the former structure brought criticism from architects and city planners. They defend the idea that the demolition would decharacterize the original architecture of the Stadium. Next, the Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage (Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional - IPHAN) concluded that the listing of the Maracanã is not related to its architecture, but rather its “ethnographic importance”. This category allows a building to be refurbished provided that its function is preserved.

This means that the budget of the Maracanã would reach a figure of R$ 950 million. Then, after the confirmation of overpricing by the Federal Audit Court (Tribunal de Contas da União - TCU) and the concession of tax breaks, the total cost dropped to R$ 775.8 million.

Recovery
After the re-inauguration, the stadium will have eight pillars in each of the 60 modules. Currently, after partial demolition, only three pillars are actually part of the Maracanã, and these are now being subjected to a process of structural recovery.

In the restoration process, each pillar will be put through up to 10 procedures, including peeling and coating. “The recovery process is almost all based on water, and for this reason there is a defined number of workers at each pillar”, he said.

According to Victor Marcondes, the projects and works manager of the Consortium, there are 180 structures in all, with three parallel structures for each module. “To comply with the time frame set for the Confederations Cup, there was an industrialization of this stage”, Mr. Marcondes said.

The Maracanã has been under refurbishment since September 8th, 2010, just over 14 months ago. Last August, the workers of this work site went on strike, and stopped working for 18 days.

With 76 thousand seats, this stadium will host the final of the Confederations Cup on June 30th, 2013. Twelve months later, on July 13th, 2014, the stadium will also host the final game of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™.