Renolith Wins Gold in the Sydney 2000 Olympics
Equestrian Centre - Trial
In September 1999, Stabilised Pavements of Australia Pty Ltd constructed a 10 metre wide 720 metres long heavy-duty road pavement at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre designed to carry heavy construction equipment and buses in preparation for and during the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games.
The total construction period for this section of road in undulating terrain was 4 days from commencement of earthworks to the final application of the asphalt and bitumen seal wearing surfaces. This construction was achieved using cement stabilisation of the natural high plasticity clay soils incorporating an additive product called “Renolith” in lieu of conventional road base pavement construction required for such a road.
An assessment was conducted 2.5 years later, after the road had been used as a heavy vehicle construction corridor, hardstand for heavy equipment as well as for multi-movement bus access to the venue for the Sydney 2000 Games in September 2000. Little deflection and slight movement of the pavement was observed. Some minor repairs had been carried out where the untreated subbase has failed on steep declines after excessive axle loads.
Main Event
Cement stabilisation with Renolith was used as the pavement construction process at the following Sydney 2000 Olympic venues:
- Sydney International Regatta Centre, Penrith
- Penrith Whitewater Stadium
- Sydney International Shooting Centre
- Sydney 2000 Games Mountain Bike Facility
- Sydney Softball Centre
- Blacktown Baseball Centre, and
- Dunc Gray Velodrome, Bankstown.
Gold Medal
According to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Coordination Authority:
Following the early identified success of this construction technique at trial equestrian events prior to the Sydney Games, we subsequently used cement stabilisation with Renolith as our pavement construction process for all types of vehicle and pedestrian all weather accessed from heavy vehicle roads and parking facilities to pedestrian paths.
We are satisfied that our investment in this construction at all venues in Sydney, representing a saving of approximately 60% of the cost of conventional construction of such roads and the associated time saving of up to 50% of conventional construction time. These savings have been advantageous in the preparation, management and coordination for the Overlay Works for the Sydney Games.