"Essentially," she explains, "I covered the entire exterior of the stadium with big chunks of welded-in-place concrete."
Chafin's involvement with the stadium will extend beyond the Olympic Games, because her company will also help transform the facility into the new home of the Atlanta Braves for the 1997 season.
This is her largest contract to date, but her business has handled other sizable projects, including erecting the structural steel for the new atrium at Hartsfield International Airport. Chafin, who began her business ten years ago after building her own house, is one of only two female contractors working directly on the Olympic Stadium and the only female project manager on site.
"When I went to the subcontractor meetings, I was one woman among fifty men," she says. "I'm kind of accustomed to that, but not in such a large group. There's been a really strong feeling of teamwork with everyone who has participated in the construction of this stadium, a spirit of giving to the community through this work. All of us have had to give intellectually and emotionally and financially. Our personalities and assets have been put to work collectively to make these things happen."