A significant number of companies partnered with Nanotures, of Cadiz, Spain, in the construction of the retractable composite roof for Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, which has just received the JEC World 2023 Building and Construction Award in a special ceremony held in Paris on March 2nd.

Partners included multiaxial non-crimp fabrics producer Saertex, of Saerbeck, Germany, and nonwovens producer Fibertex of Aalborg, Denmark, in addition to Composyst (Germany), Diab (Spain), Gavazzi (Italy), MAP Yachting (France), MEL (Spain), Sicomin (France), SKY (Hungary) and Zoltek (Hungary).

Spanning a total area of 29,000 square metres, the retractable roof consists of three sections mechanically joined to reach composite beams spanning 75 metres. The composite sections were produced by resin infusion of the fluoropolymer-coated PTFE membrane, avoiding the use of holes in the core and the use of excess polymer.

The main roof is based on the spoked-wheel principle and consists of an inner tension ring connected to an outer compression ring by 44 radial cables. The cable system carries the steel structure of radial girders and V-columns. The compression ring is supported off the steel frame structure of the existing bowl. The retractable roof is oval in plan, with dimensions of 75 x 110 metres

It has been produced as part of a €525 million facelift for the stadium that was scheduled to be inaugurated in December 2022 to coincide with the football club’s 75^th anniversary. Contractors have, however, struggled to bring in materials due to Covid-19 and later the war in Ukraine, and inauguration is now being planned for the start of the next football season this September.

JEC Group announced the winners of the JEC 2023 Innovation Awards, selected from 35 finalists across 11 separate categories, ahead of the JEC World exhibition which takes place in Paris from April 25-27.

The JEC Innovation Awards have been running since 1998 and over the past 25 years, some 1,900 separate companies have been associated with them, often as part of multiple-partner projects. As such, the awards highlight the importance to the composites industry of teamwork amd collaboration.

JEC World 2023 will showcase some 1,200 exhibitors from 112 countries and attendees from Asia are back in a big way this year, with both China and Japan having national pavilions and South Korea also strongly represented. The event anticipates more than 35,000 visitors.

www.jec-world.events