28 3 | 2003 drive&control Technology The football team, known as the "Schalke Royal Blues" – 7 times German league champions – can look back on its club history with some pride. But the Royals have enjoyed new impetus since the ope- ning of the new AufSchalke Arena Stadium, because the traditional club has achieved small miracles – and not only on the pitch. 1998 saw the start of con- struction of a new multi-functional sports center, which was intended to replace the old Park Stadium. The new AufSchalke Arena was built in only 32 months and holds more than 60 000 spectators. One special feature of this arena is the "movable" southern stand under which the grass pitch, housed in a reinforced concrete trough weighing 11 000 tons, can be moved from the outside inwards and back. According to the Dutch primary contractor HBM, the steel support structure for the southern stand, consisting of an upper and a lower stand section with support and traversing equipment, was designed and built in less than two years. New solution for the lower stand The "movable stand section", or lower stand, weig- hing approximately 700 tons, presented an extremely difficult engineering challenge. In order to be able to traverse the lower section under the upper section it was necessary for all the upper rows of seats in the lower section to be folded down. Comparable with stage technology in theatres, but with far larger dimensions, this task called for a completely new solution to ensure that all movements were control- led from a safety viewpoint to an accuracy within millimeters. The lower stand steel structure, 85 meters wide, is subdivided into three segments across the upper rows of seats. Each segment is moved up or down as appropriate by means of two hydraulic cylinders measuring 140 / 100-3000 with CERAMAX coated piston rods working in synchronization and electro- hydraulically controlled. To ensure a precise link-up of the lower stand to the upper stand, the movable stand section is first of all moved into position with synchronization control using electromechanical tra- vel drives running on rails. The travel drive is then locked by two hydraulic cylinders with piston diame- ters of 140 mm and indexed so that it is exactly hori- zontal to the upper section. The folding segments in the uppermost position are coupled to the upper stand section using an ingenious electromechanical device, which locks the upper and lower stands verti- cally. AufSchalke Arena: New Stadium – New Impetus Since its official opening on August 13, 2001 the AufSchalke Arena in Gelsenkirchen (Germany) has, with very few exceptions, always boasted a sell-out at any event staged there. What now ranks as the most modern multi-function sports location in Europe features a roll-out pitch, a sliding roof and a movable southern stand. The experience of Darmstadt company Donges Stahlbau GmbH (Germany) in structural steel engineering and crane technology, coupled with Bosch Rexroth's expertise in drive and control technology, made it possible to provide solutions to these enginee- ring challenges. Internal view of the southern stand showing an upright folding support for the upper section (right), a lower section folding support folded upwards (center), the machinery for the folding mechanism (top left) and the traverse mechanism for the lower section (background). The new AufSchalke Arena was built in only 32 months. Not only suitable for football but popular also with world stars: in May 2003 alone Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi appeared at the stadium. Followed by Robbie Williams in July. And it will be possible to experience an operatic spectacle such as George Bizet's "Carmen" in September 2003.