Behlen Industries Represents Canada At The Winter Olympics Once Again

With the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics now in full swing, BEHLEN Industries LP are thrilled to once again be providing part of the facilities used by athletes around the globe to showcase their skills, this time in the Gangneung Curling Centre, the host location for Canada-favourite sport curling, during these games.

The project, completed in 1998, was initially constructed to host the 1999 Asian Winter Games, and has also hosted the 2009 World Women’s Curling Championships (as well as several other world-class events), and is now the second time a BEHLEN structure has become a focal point during the Winter Olympics, the first being the Peak2Peak inter-mountain gondola system used by athletes in the Vancouver Games in 2010.

The Gangneung Curling Centre, boasting a nearly 50,000 sq. ft. central complex area as well as a smaller 4,170 sq. ft. annex area on each end of the structure, is perfectly sized to host Olympic action and the crowds that go with it. While the structure was designed with the interior activities in mind, special care was also taken to ensure the structure could support a snowfall of up to two meters, an otherwise dangerous possibility nestled near the mountainous regions of South Korea, marking the perfect opportunity for BEHLEN specialists to assist, specially engineering the corrugated steel roofing system to handle anything nature could come up with.

Since opening for operation in 1999, the facility has hosted the 2009 World Women’s Curling Championships, the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games, the 2017 World Junior Curling Championships, and is now being used in both the 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2018 Winter Paralympics. It is the only Olympic venue in Gangneung to have existed prior to selection as the host of the 2018 Olympics, and experienced a renovation in 2016 to spruce up the interior so it can continue to be used in world-class events for many more years.

Like most other Canadians, the staff at Behlen will be eagerly watching Olympic curling, and when the Canadian contenders (hopefully) stand atop the podium, we’ll be proud to be able to say we contributed to the realization of Canadian Olympic dreams as only our company can.