A New Generation

The Velodrome at Stone Mountain Park, the Cycling Venue for the 1996 Olympic Games, was the first in a new generation of high-performance bike tracks. Designed from the ground up with superior techniques and materials, this track represented a design breakthrough that sets a new standard against which all future tracks will be judged. This ground-breaking design approach provides world class performance at a dramatic cost savings over traditional velodrome fabrication methods.

Track Specifications

Measure Line Length: 250.00 m
Raceway Width: 7.2 meters
Max Banking: 42 degrees
Min Banking: 13 Degrees
Outside Dimensions: 115 x 55 meters
Infield Dimensions: 100 x 40 meters

75 Tons of Steel

The track is constructed with 75 tons of rectangular and square steel tubing that is cut and welded into sections using special jigs. The resulting weldments are coated and then shipped to the site for final assembly.

236 Unique Sections

The track is of modular design, comprising 236 unique, offsite-fabricated sections that rigidly bolt together. No sections are flat, and no two sections are alike, yet the sections are precisely calculated and fabricated to such tight tolerances that they join to form a smooth, continuous curved surface.

Modular Construction

Although suitable for permanent installation, the modular design of the velodrome allows us to produce a structure possessing all the important qualities of a permanent track, yet capable of damage-free disassembly and relocation. All pieces of the track easily fit in standard containers for legal transportation anywhere without special permits.

Textured Polyester-Wood Laminate Surface

The 236 steel sections are surfaced with a extra-thick (11-ply) polyester/wood laminate panel. The surface material is manufactured from sustainably reforested wood and combines several desirable qualities, including

Moisture and Heat Resistance
UV Resistance
Rigidity
Traditional board track appearance.
Long Range Smoothness
Optimum Surface texture

Steel and Transparent Plastic Safety Fence

Mounted on the outer edge of the velodrome is a sturdy safety fence. The fence is made of formed-steel and shatterproof, high-strength, transparent plastic. Unlike fences made other, weaker materials, this fence acts as a highly effective safety barrier, while only minimally obstructing the view of the racing.

New and Exclusive Design Concepts

This velodrome provides all standard features and markings required for international competition. Although adherence to important traditional track design concepts was maintained, new approaches and techniques were developed to push the velodrome design art to new heights.

Symbolic/Numerical Design

The track is designed using a hybrid Symbolic/Numerical computer model implemented in the flexible and powerful high-level symbolic math language Mathematica. This model allows simultaneous and rapid optimization of various curve and banking parameters under a complicated set of constraints. In particular, the shape of the surface has several important features, which are automatically maintained by the Mathematica design software

Zero-bubble pole line
Optimized Asymmetrical Superelevation
Cornu Spiral Transitions
Twisted, Radius-Cupped Panel Segments

3D CAD Model

The Symbolic/Numerical model in Mathematica produces a 3D numerical description of every part in the entire velodrome. This output is fed directly into CAD software to produce a 3D rendering. Once in the CAD system, the design can be manually reviewed and checked. It should be emphasized that no layout or other manual design operations are performed in the CAD system. This virtually eliminates the chance of design error. The CAD system is used solely to generate fabrication drawings for the individual parts.

The totally automated design process allows an extremely complex shape to be precisely designed and fabricated at low cost, and on a quick, no-rework schedule with 100% certainty of success.

Post-Assembly Alignment and Optimization

Imperfections caused by material tolerances and non-uniformities in the foundation are corrected using various proprietary design features that allow the surface to be aligned at the site. Ultra accurate laser surveys and computer analysis are used as an essential part of this process.

Stone Mountain was number one. Here's our tenth track, being erected in Qatar

For More Information

To receive additional information for this new generation of velodrome, contact Project Engineer Chris Nadovich