ABOUT THE NEW MARACANA STADIUM

BY DANRJ

At present, the famous Maracana Soccer-Football Stadium is being remodelled according to FIFA standards in order to be ready for the 2014 World Cup. New plastic seats will be introduced , all will be red in color, but the spectator capacity will be reduced from 86.000 to 76.525. When the stadium was built in 1950, its original capacity was at 200.000, by far the biggest stadium in the world. Also a new evacuation plan will be used , whereby spectators will be able to enter amd leave the stadium in 8 minutes.

- The new entry and exit plan will make it more easy for the fans to know exactly where they have to be seated. By Fifa standards , all the stadium must be evacuated within 8 to 12 minutes . In our plan, Maracana Stadium will be evacuated in less than 8 minutes– said the head of the project, Hudson Braga.
Maracana stadium will also have a new press center for the 2014 World Cup, and also an auditorium with 450 places, with a transmission center in the upper level.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS IN RIO FOR 2011

CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR RIO DE JANEIRO IN 2011

JANUARY:
Fashion Rio
Rehearsal of Samba Schools for Carnaval
Saint Sebastian Day

February:
Cape Town -Rio de Janeiro Ocean Regatta

March:
5th March , First Day of Carnaval

April :
Latin American Defense Conference

June:
Fashion Rio Spring Collection

July:
World Military Olympics
Rio International Marathon
Preliminary Draw Anima Mundi

August:
UFC : Ultimate Fighting Championship
Athina Onassis International Horse Show

September:
Rock in Rio
ArtRio : International Modern Art Fair

October:
Abav - Fair of the Americas
SOCCEREX

November:
Gay Parade
Gastronomy International Festival

December:
Reveillon (31 December)
Fireworks Show at Copacabana Beach

RIO INFRASTRUCTURE GETS MODERNIZED

By DanRj on November 22, 2010.
According to Rio´s main newspaper, O Globo, there are several projects planned for the city from now until 2016. The Federal government, headed by the new president , Dilma Rousseff, will grant Rio a total of 20 Billion Reals in order to modernize the city for the 2014 Fifa World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. The most important projects are:
1) Expansion of subway from Ipanema to Barra da Tijuca: 5 Billion reals investment.
2) Maracana: The world´s most famous football stadium will be host to the final match of the 2014 World Cup. The project will modernize the area according to FIFA standards.
3) TRANSBAIXADA: This new highway will connect the Via Light ( a 10,5 km highway ) with the Rio-Petropolis road.
4) VIA LIGHT: This highway will be expanded to connect with one of Rio´s main avenues, the Avenida Brasil.
5) GUANABARA BAY: Will be cleaned up, many of the rivers and swamps will be diverted. (550 billion Reals)

6) HIGH SPEED TRAIN BETWEEN RIO AND SAO PAULO: Several international companies are bidding to carry out this project.The favorite to win is a joint project by Hyundai,Samsung and Daewoo of Korea. The projects must be presented to the government on
November 29, 2010, and it isn expected that companies such as Alstom (France), Siemens (Germany) and the China Railay Civil Construction Corporation will also compete in the selection process.
The name of the company that is awarded the contract will be announced on May 11, 2011.

PRESAL OILFIELDS OFFSHORE FROM RIO DE JANEIRO
A recent report by Miller and Lents states that the reserves of oil at these fields could be higher than initially expected. According to this consultant company from the UK , the combined reserves for the Tupi, Iara and Guara sectors are at 10,76 billion barrels. Previously they had been estimated at 8 billion barrels.

Petrobras, the Brazilian state owned oil company has not made any cpmmnets about this report .Petrobras has the highest share of the oil deposit but foreign compnaies such as BG Group (UK), Petrogal (Portugal) and Repsol YPF (Spain), have also been allowed to operate in partnership with Petrobras.
The Presal oilfields are located in the Campos Basin, 300 kilometers off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, and the oil must be drilled at 2000 meters underground.

WELCOME TO ROCK IN RIO 2011

This blog will give you all the information about Rio de Janeiro (aka. RJ, O Rio, Cidade Maravilhosa (the Wonderful City in Portuguese): where to stay, where to go, where not to go, what to do and what not to do while you are in the world´s most exciting place.