Without the Azzurri, it is Italian ingenuity that is the protagonist of the World Cup in Qatar. On Sunday, November 20, the inaugural match between Qatar and Ecuador will take place at Al-Bayt Stadium, built in joint venture by a group of companies including Cimolai Spa, which built and assembled the upper tiers, the membranes, and the entire steel roof, including the mobile roof. Despite the failure of Roberto Mancini’s national team to qualify, Italy will therefore be present at the championship competition with the know-how and creativity of the engineering work designed and built by Cimolai Spa. The Al Bayt stadium is located in the city of Al-Khor, about 60 kilometers north of Doha, and its name derives from “bayt al sha’ar”, or the residences historically used by nomadic peoples in Qatar and the Gulf region. This ‘tent’ will become the largest in the world, given that the plant covers an area of approximately 1.4 square kilometres, 320 meters long, 280 meters wide and 73 meters high, and can hold up to 65,000 seats. Dominating the entire project, in terms of dimensions and engineering sophistication, is the mobile roof created by Cimolai Spa, characterized by a roof 100 meters wide, 160 meters long and weighing 25 thousand tons, which extends from one side to the other of the playground. The mega roof takes about 20 minutes to open and close in two halves towards the center of the field through sophisticated mechanisms, and it can also be moved completely towards the north, to favor greater penetration of the sun and allow the illumination of the turf.
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