COPENHAGEN - BALLERUP / DENMARK
25. - 29. SEPTEMBER 2002
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COPENHAGEN - BALLERUP / DENMARK 25. - 29. SEPTEMBER 2002 |
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ARENA |
| ACCIDENT IN COPENHAGEN | |||||
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| Finally some good news from Copenhagen
Henrik Elmgreen reports, that after at lot of problems the re-building started mid October and that the roof is nearly completed. It is expected that the indoor-facilities, including the track, will be repaired and the whole venue will be ready for action again around the 1st of April 2004. |
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| January 2nd, 2004 |
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| Roof still open
Also in September the roof of The Siemens Arena is still open. The damage is continuing. |
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| September 11th, 2003 |
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| Roof still open
In March the roof of The Siemens Arena is still open and the interior and the track are still open to all weather influences. The track has been damaged quite a bit by falling roof elements. |
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| March 3rd, 2003 |
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| January 26th, 2003 | Solidarity
race during the Berlin
6-days
Berlin – Copenhagen "On Sunday 26th January (after the Sundays Family-program) a match Berlin – Copenhagen will take place with eight riders on each team. The initiative has come from Director Heinz Seesing, the organizer of the 6-days in Berlin, who wants to show his and Berlin’s solidarity towards the Danish cyclists after the sad accident in the Siemens Arena in Copenhagen on the 3rd of January this year". (quote from the uiv-website) Why don't you go there too? |
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| "Our" track seems to be severly
damaged in the northern part.
We sincerely hope that it will soon be safe again to go into the hall, so that we can check the damages to the track, which have been caused by their falling roof construction and the exposure to the weather. |
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| January 23rd, 2003 | The cranes are in action and the
securing measures are taking place after the latest reports from Copenhagen.
The roof constructions are lifted and strenghtened section by section.
Discussions in Denmark are still going on, how this could happen at all. |
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| Storm in Denmark !!! | The cranes are ready
for action.
But.... now the wind is too strong. A storm is heading into Denmark. Tonight and tomorrow winds between 60 and 110 km/h (30-60 mph) are being expected! Hopefully it will not be necessary to report further damage later.... |
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| January 15th, 2003 | The latest plan in Copenhagen is,
to lift the complete roof with the help of 6-8 big cranes in order to install
some additional support or strengthening construction underneath the existing
construction.
Access to the inside hall is still denied. Different theories about the reasons for the accident are in discussion between the concerned engineers and companies in Denmark. As long as there is no access to the hall possible, these theories cannot be finally confirmed. |
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| January 14th, 2003 | No 6-day-race
in Copenhagen in 2003
After the organisers of the 6-day-race were in discussion with two other halls in Copenhagen, they finally had to decide not to organise any 6-day-race in Copenhagen this year. The Siemens Arena will remain the location for track cycling in Copenhagen and a fast and final repair of the damage is necessary. |
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| January 13th, 2003 | The roof is still open and it rains
(also into the hall).
6 big cranes have arrived over the weekend |
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| January 10th, 2003 | A large meeting with
the state authorities and the involved Danish companies (and their lawyers!)
has been held in order to find the reasons for the accident and the measures
to take. So far there are only assumptions.
Further research, more time and additional assistence is required by the authorities. |
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| Research for alternatives | Henrik Elmgreen, the
sport director of the Copenhagen 6-days, is still researching alternative
possibilities for holding a 6 day-race in another venue in Copenhagen this
year.
"We have our responsibility against our track cycling fans and our sponsors to undertake everything possible to possibly realise the 6-day-race in another place". Elmgreen is presently discussing the possible options in Copenhagen. "The public interest for the 6-days in Copenhagen is so big, that we have to consider all options", said Elmgreen, "even if we have to change the date of the event for later February" |
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| Outstanding solidarity support | When
the news went around that the 6-days of Copenhagen had to be cancelled
because of the unfortunate accident, there came a spontanious support offer
for the Danish track riders, which would have had the chance to compete
on their home track.
The organizers of the Berlin 6-days with their front-men Heinz Seesing and Werner Ruttkus offered yesterday to organize a country competition "Denmark against the rest of the World" in frames of the Berlin 6-days after the Sunday afternoon session of the 6-days in Berlin on January 26, 2003. From this additional event on the Berlin track money will be donated to the national Danish track riders, so that they can prepare themselves for the World-Cups and the World-Championships 2003 on other tracks in Europe, while their home-track is not available. A real outstanding example of solidarity within the track cycling family and between professional 6-day-promoters, who also are sometimes severe competitors. |
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| Activities are underway
to secure the remaining roof construction, so that the opening can be covered
and further damage to the hall interior by weather influence can be avoided.
From "ear"-witnesses it is reported that obviously first the bottom-chord of the roof truss cracked and then also the top chord collapsed and the roof part fell down into the hall. |
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| January 7th, 2003 |
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| A provisional estimate assumes at least six months before the Arena and the track will be again ready for use. | |||||
| January 6th, 2003 | Presently research is
underway to find out, what caused this accident.
Copenhagen is experiencing winterly weather conditions with frost, snowfall today and tomorrow and high Humidity (75%), which is now also affecting all installations (and the track) in the hall partly open to the weather influence. |
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| January 3rd, 2003 | On January 3rd, 2003
at 6.45h a.m. a section of the roof construction of the Siemens-Arena broke
and collapsed! Luckily nobody was in the hall at that time and nobody got
injured. The evening before there was a full training session on the track.
The Copenhagen 6-day-race (Jan, 31st - Feb, 5th 2003) consequently had to be cancelled ! (see also under http://www.uiv.dk/) |
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| LINKS | |
| OFFICIAL WEB PAGE WORLD-CHAMPIONSHIPS TRACK 2002 | |
| UNION INTERNATIONAL DES VELODROMES |  |
| How to get to the hall | click here |
