Stadion Batakan – construction description

New stadium in eastern suburbs of Balikpapan was designed by a Jakarta-based company Empat and is a football-specific ground despite its significant capacity of 40,000. Most large stadia in Indonesia are multi-use, while in this case the running track was moved outside, to a secondary stadium planned just west of the main one. Double-tiered stands will be rectangular, with one floor for corporate boxes running throughout its perimeter.

While the overall layout is close to 'western stadia', quality of the infrastructure may come well short of what is built in some countries. The cast-on-site structure presents moderate quality, but that's hardly surprising as this stadium is built for a very modest amount of money. The project was expected to end within 1.1 billion rupiah, but went upwards to reach 1.4 billion.

Construction began in 2011 and was expected to end this year. However, with continuing funding shortages the pace is far below expectations. As a result only the lower tier of stands is ready so far, while the upper one is progressing slowly. More probable date for an actual opening is 2015, according to our information.