Ninety five days before the Athens Summer Games begin and the day of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) final inspection visit of Games preparations, workmen have begun to position the first of the two support arches for the Olympic stadium.
The western arch, designed to carry the metal structure supporting the polycarbon roof plates overlooking the stadium, weighs around 9,000 tons and will slowly slide across a distance of 60 metres. An engineer at the site said the manoeuvre was scheduled to take around four days, but a source close to the IOC said it could take as little as 36 hours and be finished for the IOC’s final press conference on Wednesday.
The installation of the eastern arch still under construction should start about 10 days after the first arch has been moved into place and the procedure is expected to be easier than the first installation.
Meanwhile Greek police have arrested three Iraqis and two Bulgarians for selling hundreds of counterfeit travel documents to illegal immigrants in Greece.
Greek police have stepped up controls ahead of the Games.
According to authorities in Athens, Bulgaria, which borders Greece to the north, is a major source of counterfeit money and travel documents in the region.
