Chongqing- In the high-profile global event of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, the main curling venue "Ice Cube" and the sled center track "Snow Dragon" were constructed by a Chongqing enterprise.

Located in Jiangjin District, the Chongqing Jinbei Construction Engineering Co., Ltd. has contributed its efforts to the building, where 90% of the 1,200 construction workers come from this place. 

The Ice Cube is the largest curling venue in the Winter Olympics history. (iChongqing file photo)

This year, the venue's design for the Winter Olympics meets the requirements of the overall urban planning and fully integrates with the traditional elements to show the charm of Chinese culture to the world. 

Ice cube

As the largest curling venue in the history of the Winter Olympics, the Ice Cube, also known as China's National Aquatics Center, is the first Olympic venue in the world where a curling track is set up on a swimming pool.

Hou Bencai, project director of China Construction First Group Corporation Limited, said both aquatic and ice sports can be staged in the iconic venue at the same time, serving as the first of its kind in the world.

A number of competitions were held at the Ice Cube. (iChongqing file photo)

It was not until May 2020 that the Chongqing Jinbei Construction Engineering Co., Ltd. officially entered construction due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Tight time, heavy tasks, and high project quality requirements were all challenges faced by the company at that time. 

However, the company completed all the main body projects within five months despite all the difficulties, becoming the first completed renovation venue in Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. 

"The Ice Cube mainly serves curling competitions, the one which has extremely requirements on the track," said Wu Tianqiang, general manager of the Chongqing Jinbei Construction Engineering Co., Ltd.

"Taking the swimming pool renovation as an example, the bottom concrete construction requires the ground level and verticality error not more than 2mm in order to meet the needs of ice surface of the curling project," said Wu.

Snow dragon 

The National Sliding Center, located in the Yanqing area of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, is another project built by the Chongqing Jinbei Construction Engineering Co., Ltd.

It adopts the idea of a dragon, a totem of Chinese culture, with 16 curves of different angles and slopes. Looking down like a winding dragon coiled on the ridge, it is imaginatively called "Snow Dragon." 

This is the domestic bobsled track and the world's only track located on the south slope of the mountain. 

Snow Dragon is the only domestic bobsled track and the world's only track located on the mountain's south slope. (iChongqing file photo)

"This is also the most difficult area to build for this year's Winter Olympics," said Wu. At an altitude of more than 2800m above sea level, the National Sliding Center has a track that runs down steep hills, allowing athletes to race at 135km/hour.

The complexity of the changing terrain of the building site makes construction very challenging, with a height difference of approximately 150m from the high point on the north side to the low point on the south side and an average natural slope of over 16%.

Wu introduced that the curved shape of the course needs to be adjusted according to each corner in order to keep the balance between safety and athleticism. Almost every section varies from each other in nearly 2km track. 

The National Sliding Center, located in the Yanqing area of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, is also known as Snow Dragon. (iChongqing file photo)

"For us, we do not only have to face high altitude, low temperature, and other effects of harsh climate, but also we have to overcome difficulties such as lack of water, inconvenient transportation, and accommodation," said Wu.

He recalled that the project located in a remote place reduced all the workers only to be accommodated 40 kilometers away and commuted by bus at 5:30 am every day, and their work continued to the next day.

Although the construction conditions were extremely difficult in such a cold winter, all the workers were proud to participate in the project and contribute to the Winter Olympics. 

The project has contributed to increasing the popularity of ice and snow sports and achieving long-term utilization of Olympic venues.

(Cao Kezhi, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)