Sport Technology
Thank you Erzurum!
After more than a month of construction in the eastern Anatolian city of Erzurum, our first project in the Middle East is finally finished! In the largest city of Eastern Anatolia, a strong landslide occurred at the beginning of January 2019, destroying the then state-of-the-art ski jumping facility within just thirty seconds.
Peter Riedel and team
While the works on site at the take-off slope are still ongoing (the entire substructure was rebuilt and the concrete replaced with a solid wooden construction), we have been working since mid-September to completely reconstruct the two hills and equip them with our Mastertrack system. The start was a bit bumpy and marked by delays due to customs and communication difficulties. The on-site helpers were extremely helpful and did everything in their power to make the work as efficient and pleasant as possible. Some even reached their limits, and with the help of the interpreter, the initial communication hurdles were overcome almost playfully. With our defined construction process, we started first on the smaller hill and progressed to the larger one."
The works ranged from laying the track and irrigation system to final works at the take-off, such as installing the gap cover. Even a temperature drop of more than 20 degrees could not stop us, except perhaps for a slight cold. A clearly memorable moment for all of us was when, on Thursday, the crane finally lifted the track mills up into their designated rails. In the automotive industry you would call it the “wedding” – the moment when the main components are connected together.
After the final functional test, approval, and handover, we packed up after a total of 33 days on site on Monday and then, yesterday, Tuesday, we set off for the journey home with a sense of satisfaction. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone involved on site for the great collaboration. It was a very exciting and wonderful project that grew dear to us during all the days and challenges. Soon Fatih Arda Ipcioglu and his team colleagues can move into their newly built training facility and train there in winter and summer. That makes us happiest!
I personally hope that Erzurum will also host national and international competitions again, just as in 2019 with the European Youth Olympic Festival EYOF, and re-establish itself as a venue!
Peter Riedel and team