Green Point Stadium Construction Enters its Final Stages

Construction work on the Green Point Stadium is about 70 percent complete, and is on track for hand-over on 14 December

The major concrete work of the new Green Point Stadium has been completed, and only finishes to the structure – such as external cladding, cabling, seating, lighting and painting – still need to be completed.

The focus of construction work at present is the state-of-the-art roof structure, which has been designed to meet strict environmental constraints. The roof slopes inwards and incorporates the pitch lighting, making both of these invisible from the outside. It is also designed to minimise noise and disturbance in the surrounding areas.

The inner tension ring and outer compression ring of the roof have been installed, and the installation of the steel roof trusses is halfway to completion. The first panels of the glass roof have also been installed.

“Construction of the roof is progressing well and is scheduled for completion in September this year,” said City of Cape Town Director of Communication Pieter Cronje.

The R4.5 billion stadium project has created jobs for over 2 500 workers. During the construction process thus far, only 6.5 days have been lost due to industrial action, and two hours lost due to load-shedding.

The area surrounding the new stadium, the 85 hectare Green Point Common, is presently undergoing an extensive upgrade to incorporate a newly-redesigned golf course, sporting facilities for several different sporting codes, and public recreation areas. Work on the Common is expected to be completed by March next year.

The new Green Point Stadium will have a capacity of       68 000 for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which will then be downgraded to 55 000 after the tournament.

Once the stadium is ready for use, three major ‘test events’ will be held to ensure that any possible operational issues can be identified and resolved. There will be 20 000, 40 000 and 60 000 people at the first, second and third events respectively.

The 2010 World Cup Final Draw will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on 4 December this year. At least 5 000 guests and an estimated TV audience of 700 million people will watch the final draw being made.

The new Green Point Stadium will also have its ceremonial opening during that period, and will be officially handed over to the City of Cape Town by the contractors - a consortium of Murray & Roberts and WBHO - on 14 December.

Feeling the World Cup bug starting to bite? Do yourself a favour, take the family and friends and visit the Green Point Stadium Visitor Centre.

Read about the other 2010 World Cup stadiums.

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