Two 6km tunnels have been dug underneath the Park to carry the power needed for the London 2012 Games and the communities that will live in the area afterwards. These tunnels were completed last year on time and on budget.
More than 200km of electrical cables are now being installed in the tunnels – enough to stretch from London to Nottingham. The installation of cables, as well as monitoring and ventilation equipment, is complete in one of the tunnels, with work also progressing in the second tunnel.
Currently power is carried along overhead cables that run between the 52 pylons that dominate the Park landscape. These pylons will be dismantled once power is switched to the underground cabling later this year.
The progress made keeps the Olympic Delivery Authority on track to achieve one of its ten milestones to Beijing announced last year. The second milestone stated that with the tunnels and cabling complete, the power for the Olympic Park would be set to switch underground by the Beijing 2008 Games.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Cabling work has been completed in one of the powerline tunnels running underneath the Olympic Park.
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is reclaiming over 90 per cent of demolition material for recycling or reuse, exceeding the targets published a y
Contaminated soil is being cleaned and reused to help create the right ground levels for construction to start across the site. Rubble from demolished buildings on the Olympic Park will be used to create temporary construction roads and wood is being used to create log walls, to provide new habitats for wildlife.
Wildflower grassland, compost piles and earth mounds are being created along a corridor to the north of the Olympic Park allowing wildlife to be moved.
The ODA is also continuing to reclaim materials to reuse in the design of venues and parklands, including 80 lampposts, 160 manhole covers and two tonnes of red bricks.
Relatively new buildings on site are being carefully taken apart by hand so that they can be re-assembled and reused at other locations across the UK.
The four companies that will deliver the first packages of roads, bridges and other infrastructure in the Olympic Park have been announced.
Skanska Construction Ltd, Edmond Nuttall Ltd and Balfour Beatty Group Ltd will collectively build around 8km of roads through the Olympic Park and nearly 20 road and foot bridges linking key areas of the site. The first works will start in summer 2008.
ODA Director of Infrastructure and Utilities Simon Wright said: ‘The roads and bridges will be the key to joining the various parts of the Olympic Park jigsaw together, creating new connections across the Park and new links between local communities.
‘Right across the Park we are planning for legacy from the very beginning and this infrastructure will help us create the backbone of the Olympic Park in legacy and a platform for future development.’
Smaller packages of work within the project also went out to tender in 2007, offering opportunities for small and medium sized companies to get involved. Further opportunities of work are expected to go out to tender later in 2008 and in 2009.
