Rio Lays Subway Tracks Connecting City to Olympic Park

(ATR) Over 400 meters of track for the Line 4 subway have been laid in Rio de Janeiro, connecting the Olympic Park to other parts of the city.

The line is expected to open in 2016, which will connect Barra da Tijuca, where the Olympic Park is located, with Rio’s South Zone.

Tracks have been laid in a tunnel that connects Barra with São Conrado, the longest tunnel built between two metro stations in the world. Rio 2016 estimates 300 meters of track will be laid each week.

Just shy of 20,000 meters will be laid for the whole line, which will bring riders from Barra da Tijuca to the center of the city in just over 30 minutes. Rio 2016 expects the line to serve 300,000 passengers a day when it is operational.

Rio Tunnels Closer to Completion

Two tunnels in Rio’s port district have passed the halfway point to completion.

The Via Binário and Via Expressa tunnels have reached 77 and 54 percent completion respectively, according to Rio 2016.

Via Binário is expected to be completed later this year and will be incorporated into the Binário do Porto road. Via Expressa is on schedule to be completed in December 2015 and will be the largest urban tunnel in Brazil.

Both projects are part of the Porto Maravilha revitalization project, which includes a light rail and the demolition of the much reviled Perimetral viaduct. The viaduct was an above-ground highway built in the 1950s which blocked the views of much of the port region.

Thelight rail is expected to have six lines with two becoming operational later this year.

Deodoro Design Chosen

Vigliecca Marobal has released the design for the Deodoro stadium in the Rio Olympic Park.

The stadium will have a metal exterior containing 5,000 seats. After the Olympics, capacity will be reduced to 2,000. Recyclable "plastic wood" will cover the facade of the building.

During the Olympics, the stadium will host basketball, wheelchair fencing, and the modern pentathlon fencing competition.

Written by Aaron Bauer

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