Urgent waterproofing work on Montreal’s Olympic Stadium is underway to ensure the building’s concrete exterior is ready for winter. Officials with Montreal’s Olympic Park explained that the repairs are on one of the “veils,” the concrete sections located between the cantilevers of the stadium. They noted that there are 35 of these areas, all with slightly different dimensions. “The Olympic Park periodically applies a Vulkem-type waterproofing membrane to protect these structures from water infiltration,” the park stated. “Seeking a more sustainable solution — one that would, in particular, reduce the need for these recurring interventions — the Olympic Park decided to conduct a test on one of its ‘veils,’ covering an area of approximately 372 m², between cantilevers four and five of the Olympic Stadium.” The trial, officials explained, was to “validate the installation method, evaluate the performance of the materials and better determine the labour requirements and costs of a potential larger-scale project.” However, removing the existing waterproofing membrane “left a concrete surface exposed and unprotected.” With winter approaching, representatives with the Olympic Park said they needed to move quickly to complete the test and “protect this area before winter conditions set in to prevent water infiltration and freeze-thaw cycles from damaging the concrete structure.” READ MORE: The work is separate from the large-scale project to build a new roof over the stadium. “It has no impact on the roof replacement timeline, which remains unchanged,” officials said. The work to waterproof the concrete walls is set to cost $254,395.
