Welding in Sochi Russia

Date 02-11-2014 05:56

Due to an NDA I was never allowed to mention it, but I spent time in Sochi Russia working as a field engineer at the olympic park. Attached is a few pictures of the olympic stadium and cauldron being built. As well as a weld by the local pipe fitters. As far as safety, full or empty gas bottles were laid on their side with no caps and a piece of scrap wood used to prevent them from rolling into the a 6 foot cement pit.

Overall I enjoyed my time there, they were really not used to seeing black or hispanic people so all of us stood out like a sore thumb. They would constantly ask for our photos.

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By Mwccwi

Date 02-11-2014 10:24

Very cool, that will be an experience to remember.

By Tyrone

Date 02-11-2014 12:12

Swheet gig.
Didn't occur to me that the Russians would outsource design and construction.
I'm sure it was a great experience.
Tyrone

By Blaster (***)

Date 02-11-2014 15:22

Sweet! I am sure you will remember that for the rest of your life.

I worked in Moscow in December of "93. I remember getting off the plane and processing through the airport terminal... hundreds of people, no line, just a big pushing mob of folks all trying to push through the one and only manned turn-style where they would have their ID checked and so forth. One Russian said to me in broken English "An dis is how it starts."

Biggest McDonald's I ever saw was there.... it must have had at least 20 cash registers, with a line of 8-10 on each one.

Luckily I was staying at a very nice German owned hotel so the accommodations were nice. The rest of the buildings looked like nothing had been maintained since before WWII. They didn't seem to heat the buildings either. Traffic paid no attention to the lines on the road, driving in the oncoming lanes in heavy traffic if the lanes going the correct direction were slow.

Good times.

By Metarinka (****)

Date 02-11-2014 17:43

I hear Russia in the early 90's is much different than Russia today. Sochi is out of the way and was never a big city for international tourism. The driving here is frightening, same as being a pedestrian, very few streetlights you just play chicken with traffic and hopefully it will stop.

By welderbrent (*****)

Date 02-11-2014 16:26

Very interesting. Great experience for sure.

Have a Great Day, Brent

By Blaster (***)

Date 02-13-2014 15:13

What are costs like there now? Are goods available? In 93 I could get a cup of coffee and a Danish for about a dime... if the store had any product available to sell.

By Metarinka (****)

Date 02-14-2014 17:36

When I was there, at olympic park I could get a huge tastey lunch for 2-3 dollars. A cup of tea would be about 30 cents and a main course portion would be a dollar. Clothes are really expensive though. I bought one of hte official olympic shirts and it was $80, no matter where I went clothes were always expensive. Vodka was dirt cheap too, about 70 cents a liter, but the homemade stuff was even cheaper. Bus cost 50 cents to ride. Taxi's are expensive if they think you are a foreigner, I would often get a local to order a taxi for me, it would be much cheaper.

By Metarinka (****)

Date 02-11-2014 17:41

In college I had two russian roommates and a lovely russian girlfriend so I really liked russian food. Food was great, but at the hotel I was at it was very westernized. Sushi was big in sochi so I ate that, and there was a nice upscale pizza place. I hung out a couple times at a small cafe and the owner would give me homemade Borsch, it was amazing.

I stayed in a very upscale hotel that was built to hold all the officials it was $300 a night, no complaints there. Although it definitely didn't give you a feeling for real russia. On the days I didn't work I would just walk around town go to the beach and hang out with locals from time to time.

By TimGary (****)

Date 02-11-2014 17:47

Great project!

Can you share anything about the project flow and design challenges without violating your ND-A?

Thanks for sharing.

Tim Gary

By Metarinka (****)

Date 02-12-2014 18:56

I wish I could give more, our CEO will be on Good morning america or the today show to talk about our contribution. I don't want to steal his thunder. I wasn't there that long. I came in, gave my assistance and was out in just a few weeks. Most of the time was spent working hard 14 hours a day. Luckily the local crew we worked with were stellar guys and a blast to hang out with. They would bring us homemade vodka too, but that stuff does you in fast. :roll:

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 02-12-2014 09:42

Joel,

Did you hear about the hotel that had cardboard doors that kept getting stuck and the American punching his way out of one? :yell:

I guess the contractors weren't American on that hotel - eh? :surprised:

Respectfully,
Henry

By Metarinka (****)

Date 02-12-2014 18:54

the vast majority of work was done by local or regional contractors. I think a lot got into the project because it was money and overpromised on their abilities. I mean there's probably only so many firms in the Krasnodar region that can erect multi-story commercial buildings without major hiccups. After that you got the B-team. Russia is already very lax with inspection and code work.

I'll put it this way. Those stadiums weren't built to last and I doubt some of them will be occupiable in a decade or so.

By Tyrone

Date 02-13-2014 11:35

That's a shame the weren't built for long term. That's what happens when cost and schedule are king, and quality isn't on the radar.
When the buildings start crumbling, we all know repair costs will be through the roof. There probably won't be any funding to keep them from deteriorating.
A shame.

Tyrone

By Metarinka (****)

Date 02-14-2014 17:39

yah, olympics are always a bad deal for the hosting country. You build a dozen stadiums and custom facilities like ski jump, but after their done few places need soo many stadiums. Sochi will be hosting paralympic games I think later this year, world cup in 2018 and they are building the F1 track right now. They also intend on using the stadiums for concerts and such, but honestly they won't need 3 ice arenas in the same block for a city of 300,000.