Brazil.
Inorganic pigments from specialty chemical company Lanxess have added color to many major sporting events in the past. Now the products of the Bayferrox range will be present in the sports hall in Barra da Tijuca, Brazil.
"From August 5 to 21, 2016, when 10,000 athletes from 166 countries will compete in 28 sporting events at the summer games in Rio, participants and spectators will literally be walking on Lanxess," says Jörg Hellwig, head of the company's organic pigments business unit. This is because most of the area around the places is colored with black and red pigments.
The "Olympic Way", a black and light grey boulevard of concrete cobblestones, winds along the entire stretch of the entrance, beyond the 15 places, to the tip of the triangular motifs. The eight-centimeter-thick stones, placed in a waveform, symbolize the confluence of the Rio Negro and Solimões (Amazon River). The black water of the Rio Negro recovers its dark coloration forming its high content of humic and fulvic acids, while the Solimões River of white water looks white when viewed at an angle because of the suspended solids based on minerals. The concrete pavers that symbolize this "Meeting of the Waters" are manufactured with more than 40 metric tons of the black iron oxide pigments Bayferrox 318 and 340.
Numerous quiet areas around the places are also colored in design, as is the large square in front of the public view park just off the avenue. Its prominent red coloration comes from Bayferrox pigments. Drainage stones measuring 40x40x8 centimeters and colorful with more than 20 metric tons of Bayferrox 110 have been established in more than 12,000 square meters of the park. These highly water-permeable pavers prevent puddles from forming after heavy rains.
Bayferrox pigments are also a prominent feature in the Olympic Village: the microasphalt of the bike lanes here was coloured with the red pigment of iron oxide.
The red coloration helps improve traffic safety by marking bike lanes to separate them from gray cement pedestrian zones. Even after the sets are finished, the colored surfaces retain their shiny appearance for decades to come thanks to the excellent weather resistance of the pigments.
