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 The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has announced a major breakthrough on the Olympic Park with the completion, a year since work began, of the first of the underground tunnels which will carry the powerlines needed during the Games and in legacy.
Currently 52 pylons dominate the landscape in the area making any development difficult. The tunnels will enable the power needed for the Games and the community post-2012 to be carried underground and allow construction work to start next Summer. All tunnelling work is on track to be completed this Summer. Cables and ventilation will then be installed allowing for switchover in Summer 2008.
The ODA also published the milestones it is aiming to achieve by the time of the 2008 Beijing Games next Summer.
The milestones are not solely associated with putting on what will be a fantastic Summer of sport in five years time. They are about investment beyond 2012. As well as ensuring progress towards delivering the venues and infrastructure needed for the Games, they will also create long term value in this part of east London.
The new milestones mark the start of a period of work that the ODA are calling "Demolish, Dig, Design". By the time the Olympic Flag is handed to London in 2008 most of the Olympic Park site will be cleaned up and cleared, bridges and roads will have been built, transport improvements will be well underway and world-class venue designs will be finalised with construction about to begin.
ODA Chief Executive David Higgins said:
“In our first year we have hit every milestone on the project. We now move to the next strategic phase ‘Demolish, Dig, Design’. This is an extremely challenging project, but by setting out the programme of work in this transparent way we believe that we are breaking new ground for a project of this scale. We will be allowing people to judge progress for themselves against the significant investment that is being made. All of these milestones we are publishing today will create long-term value in this area of east London. These milestones are tough targets, but when we welcome the Olympic Flag to London in 2008 I am confident we will have hit every one.”
London 2012 Organising Committee Chairman Sebastian Coe said:
“Delivering a memorable Games involves great partnerships and we have a great partner in the ODA. Together we will deliver our promise of staging an outstanding Games and inspiring a legacy that will change lives. London’s Olympiad begins in 2008, when we take the Olympic Flag in the Beijing Closing Ceremony. As the ODA has outlined today, our Olympiad will begin against a backdrop of a transformed Olympic Park site, clearly taking shape for a fantastic Summer of sport in 2012 and for generations to come.”
Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said:
“Since being awarded the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2005 we have made tremendous progress, a fact recognised by the IOC. We have an agreed budget in place to take us through to 2012, a finalised masterplan and almost all the land for the site secured. However we are not complacent and recognise that there is still much to do. The milestones published today set out clearly the next steps and demonstrate how the fantastic progress we have already achieved will continue. But more than that it sets out the scope of our regeneration ambition, underlining how we are not just building venues for the Games, but sustaining communities with world-class facilities to be used by millions of people.”
Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone said:
“We have wasted no time since our success in Singapore, with significant progress already being made in delivering the infrastructure and facilities for the 2012 Games. The milestones set out by the ODA, clearly outline the future steps we are taking to secure a long lasting legacy for some of the most deprived communities in the country. These steps will create thousands of jobs and help deliver thousands of new homes for Londoners, transforming the landscape of east London for the enjoyment of generations to come.”
ODA Chief Executive David Higgins and London 2012 Organising Committee Chairman Sebastian Coe launched the ‘Milestones to Beijing’ on the Olympic Park, visiting one of the completed tunnels that will carry the power needed for the Games and in legacy, almost exactly a year to the day since the ODA was created and work began.
The ODA hit all of the ten milestones it set out last year including publishing the transport plan and the first venue designs, and submitting one of the largest and most complex planning applications in history.
The Ten Milestones to Beijing 2008
Milestone 01 Changing the face of the earth
The majority of the Olympic Park will be cleared and cleaned.
Demolition and clearance is already underway before the full remediation programme begins when vacant possession is achieved in summer 2007, with 90 per cent of material generated expected to be reused or recycled on site.
Milestone 02 Going underground
With the tunnels and cabling complete, the power for the Olympic Park will be set to switch underground.
Four three kilometre tunnels, up to 30 metres deep will be complete midway through 2007 enabling the undergrounding of power cables and removal of 52 pylons on the Olympic Park site.
Milestone 03 Construction access all areas
The main temporary roads and bridges will have been built, giving access to a safe and secure construction site for the big build in 2008.
By 2008 there will be two main entrances to the site with temporary roads penetrating deep into the site and six temporary bridges crossing canals and rivers aiding access. The site will also be accessible by rail and river with 50 per cent of construction materials, by weight, expected to be transported on or off site by sustainable means.
Milestone 04 Making connections
The installation of new water and energy systems that will serve the Olympic Park during and after the London 2012 Games will have started.
Existing water and energy infrastructure is already being dismantled, disconnected and diverted across the Olympic Park and should be completed by Beijing 2008. Installation of including gas, water, sewage, heating/cooking and electricity networks should be underway and planning consent gained for a wind turbine to the north of the Olympic Park.
Milestone 05 Setting the scenery
The regeneration of the waterways in the Olympic Park will have started, improving the environment and access for the construction phase.
Construction work replacing and repairing river walls on some of the 8.5km of waterways will begin in 2007 and a new lock and water control system should be complete by summer 2008, enabling 350-tonne barges to access the construction site.
Milestone 06 Green light for transport
The transport enhancements that will open up east London and support the London 2012 Games will have started, with many complete.
The first edition of the transport plan will be published this year following consultation throughout 2006. The ‘High Speed 1’ link to St Pancras being used by the ‘Javelin’ shuttle during the Games will be up and running in 2007 and work will be well underway improving the Docklands Light Railway, Jubilee line and Stratford Regional Station by Beijing 2008.
Milestone 07 Route to the Olympic Stadium
Construction will have started on the bridge that will take people over the Aquatics Centre to the Olympic Stadium. Building work on the Stadium will be about to begin.
Around 230,000 spectators will cross the bridge from Stratford during the Games, the equivalent to the population of Derby.
Milestone 08 Beds for athletes, homes for Londoners
Construction on the Olympic Village will have started.
A preferred development partner has been selected and final agreement is expected before a detailed planning application is submitted by the end of this year, construction is due to begin in summer 2008.
Milestone 09 Grand designs
Contracts will have been let and designs agreed for the ‘Big 4’ venues in the Olympic Park, including the Olympic Stadium – and at venues outside London work will have started.
Including the Aquatics Centre, Velopark, International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre in the Olympic Park, and Broxbourne (Canoeing) and Weymouth (Sailing).
Milestone 10 Thinking of tomorrow today
The development of the Legacy Masterplan Framework for the Olympic Park will be well advanced.
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is funded by The National Lottery, the London Development Agency, the Government and the Greater London Authority. This investment is creating the facilities and infrastructure needed to host the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. It will also provide a lasting legacy for the people of east London and the UK.
This story first appeared on the London 2012 Website.
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