Sustainability the Key Feature of the New Ahmed bin Ali Stadium

Doha, December 19 (QNA) - One of the key features of Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, which was inaugurated Friday, is its sustainability. The stadium was reconstructed on the previous Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium and fulfilled its sustainability goals by using 90 percent of materials from the old stadium within the new project. Al Rayyan Venue Precinct Director Abdulla Al Fehani said that "In 2014, we released a tender to appoint a deconstruction contractor. It is a specialist job where you dont demolish a building but you deconstruct it. You take the building apart in different elements." "Those elements included the concrete, the wiring, the steel which is part of the structure itself, and other elements like the doors, seats and lights. We removed those elements, then removed the structure itself, until it was concluded," he added. Among the materials to be reused in the new stadium precinct was upwards of 250,000m of backfill, while other materials were used for temporary infrastructure, like labour accommodation. Some materials were also set aside for public art installations, while seat tags were saved and given to Al Rayyan supporters and club officials as mementos of their previous home. "Sometime into the project, construction of temporary training sites for Al Rayyan Sports Club was added to the scope," revealed the SCs Sustainability and Environment Director, Engineer Bodour Al Meer. "We also realized there were quite a few sports lights in the stadium, which we were able to take down carefully and then reuse for the temporary training sites next to the venue." While some of the reused materials are not as visible in the new stadium complex, trees and plants that once surrounded the old stadium were retained and replanted, which has helped to minimize damage to the natural environment. "We moved about 200 plants to a nearby nursery, next to our stadium site, then we moved a lot of them back to the redeveloped site," said Al Fehani. "Some trees were given to the Ministry of Municipality and Environment as part of our sustainability objectives." With a new era set to formally begin for Al Rayyan Venue and the surrounding complex, the process that brought about the transformation of the site has proudly become another important legacy chapter for the SC and its goal of staging the first carbon-neutral FIFA World Cup. (QNA)