Mega Builders

S03:E01 - Raising the Roof - Rio Stadium

A new iconic stadium rises in Rio De Janeiro. The futuristic Joao Havelange Olympic Stadium will be the main venue for the 2007 Pan Am Games. It’s most striking design feature is a complicated 3300 ton floating roof covering the 40 000 seat complex. The challenge: build a futuristic arch system to support the roof from above, then remove the temporary supports to leave the roof seemingly suspended in mid-air. Team leaders Claudio Casares and Sancho Montandon take over a struggling project already over budget and months behind schedule. They must raise the roof in time, or the Pan Am Games may not get off the ground.