18 replies to this topic

[thatsnotmypuppy]

I have expanded my above post.  

Speed skating indoors really only started in Calgary.  Albertville was the last outdoor speed skating tournament in 1992.  Lillehammer, Nagano, SLC and Torino have all also been inside - Vancouver is planned indoors and all 2014 bidders appear to be planning covered ovals.


As for rinks -

The underlying technology behind indoor ice rinks is the same technology at work in refrigerators and air conditioners.

The main difference in an ice rink, other than sheer size, is that the refrigerant doesn't cool the ice directly. Instead, it cools brinewater, a calcium-chloride solution, which is pumped through an intricate system of pipes underneath the ice. In most rinks, the pipes are embedded in a concrete or sand base (more on this later).

Underneath the floor at most ice arenas, you'll find a refrigeration system. This system consists of three main pieces:

Chillers (most arenas have two or three)

Steel pipes with 2,800 pipe welds

Brinewater (an antifreeze agent)

Five miles (8 km) of steel pipe wind under the rink in the most arenas. The three chillers cool the brinewater to 16 F (-9 C) and provide up to 270 tons of cooling. The brinewater's chemical makeup keeps it from freezing.

The maintenance team sets the refrigeration system's temperature manually, based on indoor and outdoor temperatures. To freeze the rink surface, the system pumps 9,000 gallons (34,000 L) of freezing brinewater through the pipes and then onto the ice-bearing concrete slab.

The brinewater is pumped into the pipes embedded in the ice-bearing concrete slab. The ice-bearing slab sits between the skating surface and a layer of insulation, which allows the ice to expand and shrink as temperatures and time demand. The brinewater helps keep the ice-bearing slab's temperature just below 32 F so that the water spread onto it can freeze.

Underneath the layer of insulation, a heated concrete layer  keeps the ground below the ice from freezing, expanding and cracking the rink structure. The entire rink sits on a base layer of gravel and sand which has a groundwater drain at the bottom.

To defrost the skating surface, the brinewater is heated and pumped through the ice-bearing concrete slab. This heats the under layer of the ice, making it easier to break up and remove with front-end loaders.

Most arenas however do not melt the ice unless refrigeration is being repaired or they need to paint different logos.  For different events a wooden floor is added - buffered by insulation.  This means at a lot of concerts in 'ice' arenas, floor seats tend to be a bit chilly.

So there you go!  All the ice rink stuff is from the 'How To' site.

[Brekkie Boy]

Thanks for all the info - very interesting.

So it looks like alot of the time the outdoor speed skating arena acted in very much the same way as a Summer Olympic Stadium.

Is that why they are 400m tracks then, and were any athletic stadiums converted for the games?


I understand Vancouver is set to host the ceremony indoors - surely that'll cause some problems for lighting the flame, never mind the fireworks!

[baron-pierreIV]

OK.  How many WC's/toilets/urinals were provided for men and women at all these stadia?  

- Were these like close to the performers' dressing rooms or far enough?  

Did the septic tanks/plumbing systems for the stadia interfere with the refrigerating systems of the ice rinks?  

Please - I need to know.

[thatsnotmypuppy]

02 - Salt Lake City - Rice Eccles Stadium
Not used for any other purpose.

98 - Nagano - Minami Sports Park Stadium
Not used for any other purpose.

94 - Lillehammer - Lysgårdsbakkene Stadion
Ski Jumping stadium.

92 - Albertville - temp stadium next to the speed skating oval.
Temporary - dismantled after the Games.

88 - Calgary - McMahon Stadium
Not used for any other purpose.

84 - Sarajevo - Kosevo Stadium - Closing in the Zetra Ice Hall.
Kosevo - Not used for any other purpose. Zetra - Figure Skating.

80 - Lake Placid - LP Equestrian Stadium (I'm not sure of the exact name but it was temporary seating around a field near the highy school that was an equestrian park - closing was at the Olympic Arena)  Closing was at the Indoor Rink of the Olympic Centre.
Equestrian Stadium - Not used for any other purpose.
Indoor Rink - Figure Skating/ Ice Hockey

76 - Innsbruck - Olympic Ski Jump (Bergisel Stadium)
Ski jumping stadium.

72 - Sapporo - Makomanai Park Stadium
Speed Skating venue.

68 - Grenoble - Opening Stadium (temporary seating at existing football ground)
Not used for any other purpose.

64 - Innsbruck Olympic Ski Jump (Bergisel Stadium)
Ski Jumping stadium

60 - Squaw Valley - Blyth Arena and surrounds
Ice Hockey / Figure Skating venue.

56 - Cortina - Ice Stadium
Speed Skating venue

52 - Oslo - Bislett Stadium
Speed skating venue

48 - St Moritz - Olympic Ice Rink
Speed skating oval

36 - Garmisch Partenkirchen - Olympia Skistadion
Ski jumping venue.

32 - Lake Placid - Olympic Stadium (Speed Skating oval)
Speed Skating venue

28 - St Moritz - Olympic Ice Rink
Multi use skating venue (Figure, speed etc)

24 - Chamonix - Stade Olympique de Chamonix
Multi use skating venue

[thatsnotmypuppy]

Guardian, on Feb. 26 2006,03:45, said:

Uh, TNMP, wasn't the 1972 Olympic Stadium in Sapporo used for long track speed skating, along with the ceremonies?

You are right - I have visited the existing stadium and it is an athletics ground - so that does make sense!

[memorabilia]

thatsnotmypuppy, on Feb. 25 2006,23:24, said:

92 - Albertville - temp stadium next to the speed skating oval.
Temporary - dismantled after the Games.

Quite right about Albertville.
They remove the temporary stand, but let the kind of totem which was at the center of the stage.
They realised a park around this totem where you could enter for free.

[Kenadian]

Almaty's speed skating venue is famous because it was highly engineered to be one of the fastest rinks in existance.  That's the old Soviet sports machine at work!  But in their 2014 bid, Almaty is proposing a roof to be constructed over the facility.

An indoor facility is optimal because it allows for absolute climate control.  Calgary could have been ruined by the warm spell that blew through there before the Games.  But the Olympic Oval was completely protected from chinooks.

As for BC Place Stadium, the place is 60 metres tall and holds seats for up to 60000 so it has plenty of room for the Olympic flame.  It is about the same height at Stadium Australia.

[baron-pierreIV]

Kendegra, on Mar. 23 2006,21:08, said:

As for BC Place Stadium, the place is 60 metres tall and holds seats for up to 60000 so it has plenty of room for the Olympic flame.  It is about the same height at Stadium Australia.

Yes, except with the air-compressed roof, the interior of BC Place Stadium has a higher, slightly more concentrated oxygen content. So...






whoosh!!