R. Furtado, C. Quinaz, R. Bastos, Portugal
A dramatic state-of-the-art engineering and architectural stadium was built in Braga, Portugal to receive the EURO 2004 football championship. The site where the client wanted a 30 000 seat stadium was a hill with a very good granite quarry on its top. The Architect imagined one stadium with only two stands – one would be carved into the rock as in an amphitheatre; the other one would rise up from the ground. Between them the roof had to be as light and clean as possible. A suspended roof with 202 m span came up as the natural solution. This paper presents the most relevant issues related to conceptual design, structural analysis and construction of this unique project.
