The world’s largest hockey stadium is here!
Real Estate

The world’s largest hockey stadium is here!

The world’s largest hockey stadium is here, in India: the Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, Rourkela. Built by Larsen & Toubro (L&T), the new 20,846 -seat stadium has been constructed in a record 15 months meeting all international specifications. Built across 50acres, it has one m...

The world’s largest hockey stadium is here, in India: the Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, Rourkela. Built by Larsen & Toubro (L&T), the new 20,846 -seat stadium has been constructed in a record 15 months meeting all international specifications. Built across 50acres, it has one main playing field, a practice field, practice and fitness centres with state-of-the-art player change rooms, a hydrotherapy centre, steam rooms, sauna and more. The stadium was inaugurated by Odisha Chief Minister SJ Naveen Patnaik on January 5, 2023. Scope of work The scope was to construct the main stadium with gallery, a hockey practice centre, main field of play, practice field of play and other ancillary structures like UG tank, substation and pump room, external work, stainconcrete along with road and landscape works. Apart from this, MV Satish Whole Time Director & Senior Executive Vice President (Buildings), L&T, adds, “The renovation of two hockey fields at Panposh, Rourkela was also part of our scope.” He shares that while theengineering was done by Collage Design and construction by L&T,L&T’s Engineering, Design & Research Centre (EDRC) was involved in vetting the structural stability and designing in such a way that the construction could be fast-tracked with readily available sections in the market. Overcoming core design and engineering challenges Initially, the location of the stadium was where the hockey practice centre is currently situated “We were left with no other option but to switch the location of the hockey practice centre and main stadium with each other because of the overlapping issues with the existing hostel building,” says Satish. “Thus, the main stadium was shifted south wherein the profile of the land was not uniform and there were level differences of up to 7 m at the south side. This change in location impacted the soil-bearing capacity because of which the isolated footings of the West Stand were redesigned and converted into raft, which again made uschange the core design of west stand from a fully RCC structure into a steel structure. These changes also brought about an increase in quantities of concrete, reinforcement, shuttering and structural steel which was not planned initially. For instance, the quantity of concrete increased from 6,000 cu m to 35,000 cu m and L&Thad to set up a higher capacity batching plant in the midst of the project and the quantity of structural steel increased from 1100 MT to 4000 MT and we were to add on additional fabrication facilities to ensure timely completion. Technology, material, machines For a project of this scale to be completed within schedule would entail the right choice and adoption of technology, materials and machines. Satish shares a list of experiences on site and related decisions made below: “As we were running against time, we decided to go on with the fabrication of structural steel of about 4,000 metric tonne, which includes 50,050 elements and over 1 lakh bolts in one of our vendor’s factory at Bhilai, and transported all those to our site so that it could be erected immediately. We tracked the elements of structural steel digitally to avoid issues during the erection of the elements. We used heavy cranes varying from 80 tonne to 150 tonne, boom liftswith varying jibs of 80 ft to 150 ft and lots of F-15 first-generation cranes to transport material from one end of the site to the other. To save time, we adoptedprecast technology like precast drains, trenches and trenchcovers. To crash timelines during the construction of theWest Stand, we came up with an innovative idea of doing staircases of eight flights with deck sheets instead of conventional formwork, which allowed us to concrete the entire staircases at one go (saving approximately a month’s time). We mobilised a concrete paver machine for stain concrete and 4 nos. of scissor lifts instead of scaffolding to work at height.We promoted fast-track construction activities by planning parallel activities. For example, the West Stand gallery slab was cast in four pours by doing reinforcement and casting simultaneously.” A masterpiece in steel The stadium is made entirely of structural steel and the stands are completely covered with aluminium composite panelling with an expanded mesh to allow for the passage of natural light into the concourse area that helps air circulation. The gallery area is designed for the spectators to watch matches without any obstruction and all the four stands can be accessed through multiple entrance and exit points for free and smooth movement of spectators. The West Stand is a VIP stand replete with players’ change rooms, offices, commentators’ rooms, the media centre, a separate media tribune, a CM Box, DSYS rooms, FIH/HI offices, and press conference rooms. A few of the elements have been imported like Astroturf pitches from Germany and the sauna system from Spain. Hockey practice centre has players change rooms, Steam and Sauna facilities, Hydrotherapy room, well equipped gym and first aid rooms. “We are delighted that we have been able to meet the challenge that the Odisha government gave us to complete the stadium in time for the World Cup and that we have created great sports infrastructure in the process,” shares Satish. “This stadium is a wonderful example of the spirit of Atmanirbhar Bharat with a lot of the construction materials and manpower drawn from across the country.” The USP and salient features Other than being the world’s largest hockey stadium in terms of seating capacity – with 21,800 seats – and certified by FIH, there are also several world-class facilities that have been provided. These include hot and cold plunge pools, steam and sauna rooms, ahighly equipped gym, kitchens and pantry. The stands are designed in a way that every spectator has a clear vision of the field of play and are fully accessible to the differentlyabled with separate toilet facilities for them. The stadium is now ready. And following the rules of the game, the opportunity has now been passed on to the players to show their skills on an international stage. Key vendors Siscol: Structural steel Campaign Scout: Interiors, players’ changing room, goalkeeper room and cheerleaders’ room. Ins & Out: Railing and signages Advance Sports Technology: FOP- Turf & Sprinklers Bajaj: Lighting Johnson:Lift AM Industrial: Electrical works EVAC: HVAC ACE Façade: Façade Freewill: Chairs Project detailsProject: Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium Location: Rourkela, Odisha Construction cost:Rs 2.80billion (excluding GST) Year of completion: 2023 Total area:50acre Developer: IDCO Contractor: L&T Equipment suppliers: Astral, Cummins, Technocrat, Johnson, Jackson, Bajaj, Daikin, Kirloskar Technology suppliers: Astral, Perrot Material suppliers: ACE Façade,JSW, Tata, Ultratech, Wipro, Jindal, Bajaj, Philips, Advance - SHRIYAL SETHUMADHAVAN

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