Refurbished Steigerwald Stadium Steigerwaldstadion (Foto: Krug) [31.05.2005] A major sports event is coming up soon: From July 14th to 17th the Steigerwaldstadion in Erfurt will host the European Athletics U23 Championships. When the decision was made by the Council of the European Athletic Association (EAA) in February 2003 in Leipzig the responsible bodies reacted immediately by planning the reconstruction of the track. A track which should meet modern requirements and be worth to host also international athletics events. The subsidies for the cicil works (1,5 mio. Euros) derive from the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal State Thuringia. Since the decision a lot has happened in the stadium. After the DLV-Athletics Meeting in June 2004, the civil works started. The track which was covered by an old synthetic material, was substituted by an asphalt layer in the winter. Bear with the required temperature Then works on the track had to be shut down as the construction workers had to wait for constant temperatures of about 10 degree celsius. Only at these conditions they were able to spread the synthetic material on the asphalt. Every day since the end of April the company Regupol from Nordrhein- Westfalen had to decide whether the weather was good enough to continue with their work. The blue track in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin was also the job of Regupol. Car tires for a fast track The 10cm polyurethane layer was prepared in the Bad Berleburger factory for foamed material. An area of approx. 7000m² was covered with a mat manufactured out of old car tires. Real manual labour followed, because the red granulate had to be spread bit by bit evenly with shovels. The new material promises a minimum reduction of power. Athletes are able to transform almost one hundred percent of their power into speed. The last mark The first possibility for the athletes of Thuringia to demonstrate the high speed should have been in the middle of June. But the deadline could not be met by the construction workers because more time for curing was necessary.Regupol was able to finish the blue track of the Olympic Stadium in Berlin one d ay before its opening. Also the new track in the Steigerwald Stadium will be completed accurately timed so that Europe's best European U23 athletes will be able to demonstrate great performances and fast times. (jk)