Unlike many other colossal buildings that have a visible
lightning protector atop, the National Stadium, or the Bird's Nest,
relies on its own steel structure to conduct lightning, a new
publication revealed.
[Photo: Beijing
Times]
The "Bird's Nest" has its own lightning protection network due
to its seamlessly welded steel structure, the Beijing News
quoted from a newly-published book, The High-Tech Olympics --
An analysis of Creative Scientific and Technical Ideas of the
Beijing Olympics.
To protect spectators from lightning injuries, all parts of the
building exposed to the human body have been specially treated, the
author said.
The National Aquatics Center, or the "Water Cube," which doesn't
have a tangible lightning protector, has received the same
treatment. Its concrete basement and the steel skeleton on the
ground are integrated into a cubic steel mass through the welding
process, and it serves as a conductor to bring the lightning
underground, the book claimed.
Furthermore, the "Water Cube" has a unique feature to endure an
earthquake measuring eight on the Richter scale owing to its welded
structure and its 12,000, joints which bear the weight of the
project evenly, the author said.
(BOCOG October 19, 2007)
