Skip to main content

Eurovia races against the clock for London’s Race of Champions

Fast-track construction has taken on a new meaning following the successful staging of the Race of Champions in London’s Olympic Stadium. The knockout tournament for the world’s best drivers – won by Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel – required a super-fast construction and dismantling of a safe, high-speed circuit within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Stadium. Eurovia UK had just four weeks to design the track, complete trials and mobilise for the project following the contract award. The circuit was co
June 17, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
And the winner is Eurovia UK
Fast-track construction has taken on a new meaning following the successful staging of the Race of Champions in London’s Olympic Stadium.

The knockout tournament for the world’s best drivers – won by Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel – required a super-fast construction and dismantling of a safe, high-speed circuit within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Stadium. 3281 Eurovia UK had just four weeks to design the track, complete trials and mobilise for the project following the contract award.

The circuit was constructed in one week, allowing organisers three days for driving practice ahead of the event last November. Afterwards, the project team had 36 hours to remove the track, but accomplished this in just 25 hours.

Eurovia contracting business manager Dave Boswell said tight control of logistics was essential, given the complexity of the project and constraints on Eurovia’s access to the stadium.

Working in conjunction with the Race of Champions team, the track was designed by technical consultancy 2374 Jean Lefebvre (UK). It was constructed with recycled road planings laid on aluminium trackway panels to protect the pitch’s underground heating. The 150mm base layer was then overlaid with SMA binder and a thin surface course paved in Echelon.

Sims Milling & Eurovia Roadstone processed the materials after laying trials at its Bull Lodge quarry in Essex. Conventional wheeled, tracked and midi-pavers were used to lay different grades of planings. Sims Milling also demonstrated that the material could be removed by cold milling without damaging the aluminium plates.

Around 3,000tonnes of road planings and 1,800tonnes of asphalt were used in the construction of the 8,000m2 circuit. It required 1,000 plates provided by Davis Trackway, which played a similar role for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Singapore F1 racetrack uses Shell technology
    July 20, 2012
    The Singapore Grand Prix at the end of September was a race to remember for many reasons. Formula One's first night race saw excitement on the track, and it was a test for the high-performance surface containing Shell premium grade bitumen binder Cariphalte Racetrack. The inaugural Singapore Grand Prix was staged on a new street circuit and is open to regular motorists. Work on the track started in April 2008 and was completed in just two months. Because the road circuit is used for everyday traffic, the ne
  • Airport repaving project using machine control
    April 24, 2023
    Luxembourg Airport, located in Findel, is handling a growing number of passenger as well as cargo flights. However, to meet international standards the airport’s runway, measuring 4,000m long x 60m wide, was in need of complete renovation and repair
  • Wirtgen’s cold milling solution breaks records in Sardinia
    December 9, 2016
    Three Wirtgen cold milling machines – two of type W 210 and one of type W 200i – and two Wirtgen soil stabilizers of type WR 2000 demonstrate their productivity and reliability at Alghero-Fertilia Airport in Sardinia. Located roughly 8 km northwest of the city of Alghero, Alghero-Fertilia Airport (IATA: AHO, ICAO: LIEA) is one of three commercial airports on the Italian island, along with Cagliari Elmas and Olbia. Built as a military airport in the late 1930s, Alghero-Fertilia still occasionally serve
  • Durable surface solution
    February 22, 2012
    Innovative spray pavers from Vögele have been used in Germany to rehabilitate a section of the A99 autobahn near Munich. In all, four SUPER 1800-2 pavers fitted with SprayJet Module were used to pave a thin, noise-reducing asphalt. overlay on spray seal on the A99 to the west of the Allach Tunnel. For pavement rehabilitation, this stretch of the busy orbital motorway near Munich could only be closed to traffic at night. The traffic volume on the A99 orbital motorway near Munich is 100,000-120,000 vehicles/d