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Location | Penrith Whitewater Stadium, Penrith - Sydney West, Austrálie Designers | Peter Heeley (construction and technology), Jaroslav Pollert (hydraulic, functional and sport design) Investor | Penrith City Council Sydney - Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games Sydney 2000 Costs | 6,65 miI . AUD General contractor | Pacific Power lnternational, Australia Design | 1997-1998 Construction | 1998-1999 (trial operation); 2000 (opening concurrently with Olympic village opening for Olympic Games Sydney 2000) Technical characteristics | Length 320 m | Width-variable 8-14 m | Mean water depth 1 m | Max floor slope 1.5 % | Flow rate 14 m3/s assured by 6 pumps (1 stand-by) | Start-finish water level difference 5.5 m | Water velocity in singular points 4-5 m/s |
The success of Olympic Games in Sydney was due in no small measure also to the perfect state and function of ail sports facilities. One of the most successful was the artificial race track for water slalom.
The previous tracks for this discipline copied the longitudinal river profile. The designers replaced this traditional form with horseshoe shaped alignment on "stadium" lines enabling the spectators to observe every single sportsman from start to finish. At the beginning and
the end of the concrete channel of mostly trapezoidal cross section there is a 20 x 50 m basin. Water is pumped to the start basin from the finish basin, connected with a training lake produced by gravelsand excavation. The success of this progressive hydraulic structure was contributed to also by the cost-effectiveness of the design (the costs offered by the Games Organizing Committee was 12.9 mil. AUD,
the actual costs of the project were 6.65 mil. AUD), the combination of fixed obstacles for the generation of basic water flow and mobile obstacles for the "tuning" of the water flow in the channel, and the use of recycled materials (power plant ash as concrete aggregate).
The outer bank is intended for the spectators (the grass-covered grandstand for 5000 spectators was extended temporarily with 9000 seat during the Olympic Games). The inner peninsula is reserved
for the racers and functionaries. The transport of kayaks, canoes and commercial inflatable rafts with crews between the start and the finish is assured by a belt conveyor 1.2 m wide and 50 m long. The equipment of the race track includes the buildings for boat storage, locker rooms, showers, a café and an office block with reception.
The design preparation included also the financial plan of receipts from the sale of tickets for the individual Olympic Games competitions and the commercial exploitation of the work after its completion. With an average ticket price of 75 AUD per one racing day the gross revenue was almost 4.5 mil. AUD. After the Games the race track is used by home and foreign sportsmen, schools, rescue teams, police, firemen, etc. all the year round. The highest cost item is the electric power for water pumping at various rates according to the daily schedule. Since its opening for the Olympic Games the work has been showing net monthly revenue between 100 and 150 thous. AUD.