MICHEL
10-11-2005, 14:17
"ATHENS, Greece - Problems with the roof of Athens' Olympic stadium were being fixed, and the government's chief Olympic official insisted there was no danger to public safety.
"This project has thousands of welded parts, and some of these parts needed to be welded again or strengthened," said Fani Palli Petralia, the deputy culture minister who led government preparations for the Olympics.
She said Tuesday that the German maritime and construction safety firm Germanischer Lloyd AG inspected the 17,000-ton roof and determined there was no threat of a collapse.
The Athens daily Kathimerini, quoting a report delivered to the government by Germanischer Lloyd, said Tuesday that some of the roof's supports had been poorly aligned with gaps between them.
The synthetic glass-and-steel roof, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, was the centerpiece of the Athens Games last year. First-division soccer teams AEK and Panathinaikos now use the stadium for their home matches"
"This project has thousands of welded parts, and some of these parts needed to be welded again or strengthened," said Fani Palli Petralia, the deputy culture minister who led government preparations for the Olympics.
She said Tuesday that the German maritime and construction safety firm Germanischer Lloyd AG inspected the 17,000-ton roof and determined there was no threat of a collapse.
The Athens daily Kathimerini, quoting a report delivered to the government by Germanischer Lloyd, said Tuesday that some of the roof's supports had been poorly aligned with gaps between them.
The synthetic glass-and-steel roof, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, was the centerpiece of the Athens Games last year. First-division soccer teams AEK and Panathinaikos now use the stadium for their home matches"