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Olympic Stadium Stands on its Own

The National Stadium (the Olympic  Stadium during the 2008 Games), the main competition venue for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, its opening and closing ceremonies, and the Games’ football finals, has already become a hot spot for tourists, although it can only be admired from outside its busy construction zone.

The main structure of the National Stadium consists of two parts, its interior concrete structure and its outer steel structure. The amazing steel structure is composed of 24 columns of trusses which, together, create a bowl-shaped stadium. Because all components of the steel structure support each other, as with a bird’s nest, the National Stadium has been nicknamed the “Bird’s Nest.”

The stadium’s steel structural outline is now clearly visible. The removal of its supports and the final setting into place of its gigantic steel columns took place from September 14–17, in seven steps. The successful operation proved that the stadium’s designers, Chinese experts and builders had resolved all difficulties in the construction of this titanic steel structure and that work on the National Stadium had entered a new stage, with plenty of time remaining for the scheduled installation of its membrane structure installation and decoration. After the Olympics, it will be used for large-scale sport competitions, conventional competitions as well as business and cultural activities.