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December 20, 2011
NEW case study Olympic Velodrome cycle track
While the distinctive shape of Hopkins' Velodrome is an elegant landmark to the site of the 2012 Olympic Games, the cycle track itself is a masterpiece of craftsmanship. It was designed by Ron Webb, a former track cyclist and Australian champion, whose company designed the 1994 Manchester Velodrome track and the Sydney and Athens Olympic cycle tracks.
The track is oval in plan, with straight lengths connected by two steeply banked curves. The complex geometry required to join the straights with the banked curves was made more challenging by the need for the track to cope with the cyclists' changing centre of gravity, balance and friction. In addition, the Olympic track had to conform to critically exact dimensions. Tradesmen, working with planes and saws, had to build it to the exact 250mm racing line circumference. If this had been exceeded by more than 12mm, the whole track would have been rejected.
The track surface is supported by a series of prefabricated gang-nailed timber trusses at 700mm centres, each bolted to an upright track post. The solidity of the timber trusses ensured that there was miniscule deflection. Once the trusses were in place, with angles and positions checked, a series of successive rings of Siberian pine laths were nailed to the track. The laths were 40mm thick and in some cases more than 6metres long - the long lengths were essential to ensure a smooth curve round bends. In total, 193 rings of laths were used to complete the track - a linear length of about 53 kilometres.
The carpentry work, by J P Lane of Cork, Ireland, was completed in eight weeks. To ensure a smooth track surface, gang nails were not allowed to be used - the 338,000 nails were hammered in by hand.
Ron Wood has used the same source of timber for his cycle tracks for many years. The Siberian pine grows in Arctic latitudes and is durable, malleable and, apart from some initial cross-grain shrinkage, not prone to excessive movement.
The Velodrome will seat 6,000 spectators at the Olympic and Paralympic Games and afterwards will become a hub for amateur cycling enthusiasts.
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