Problems with cascading stairways at the National Stadium

By: M. Wygralak

On 23 May 2011 an entry appeared in the construction logbook for the National Stadium in Warsaw concerning the need to dismantle and repeat work on the cascading stairways. The entry was placed in the book as a result of investment supervisory body research with regard to loading.

On 26 May 2011 Rafał Kapler, president of the National Sport Centre explained that the main problem with the stairways is the leaking of an adhesive. President Rafał Kapler proposed three possible means of resolving this problem. The first of them, the longest-lasting and most expensive, would be the dismantling of the stairways and their construction anew, with the remaining methods being the injection of new adhesive into joints or the installation of special metal baskets on the pillars. The National Sport Centre decided on the third variant, the reinforcement of the stairway construction with a steel structure.

The deadline for the improvement of the stairways passed on 15 September, but the contractor, the firm Hydrobudowa, did not meet this, as a result of which it is threatened by severe financial penalties. The planned conclusion of the improvement is the end of September 2011. The deadline for the handing over of the National Stadium is 29 November 2011.

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