London 2012 - Skybar and News

[london lad]

Work starts on Olympic sailing facilities

2 May, 2008

By Dan Stewart

Weymouth & Portland Academy will be first venue completed for 2012 Games.

Dean & Dyball has started construction work on the national sailing academy for the 2012 Olympic Games.


Weymouth sailing venue for 2012

The contractor, which was bought by Balfour Beatty in March, has started work on a permanent slipway and extended sailing facilities at Weymouth & Portland Sailing Academy.

It will be the first Olympic construction project to be completed.

The ODA said it deliberately held back the start of construction to avoid disrupting the nesting season of local birdlife.

The upgrading of the facilities is expected to be complete in 2008, and the venue will be used for Olympic and Paralympic sailing events in 2012.

[DarJoLe]

London 2012 has issued a statement on the London Mayoral elections, held on Thursday 1 May.
Seb Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, said:

'I congratulate Boris Johnson on his election as Mayor of London. I know he shares in our excitement in hosting the greatest sporting event on the planet and shares our vision to leave a lasting legacy for generations to come.

'I look forward to working alongside Boris as the new Mayor on the Olympic Board, and we will make sure his team are brought up to speed quickly on all aspects of hosting the Games, starting with the upcoming visit of the IOC Co-ordination Commission in a fortnight’s time.

'Ken Livingstone helped us shape a bid that convinced the International Olympic and Paralympic movements to award the 2012 Games to London. We owe much of our win to Ken's vision to use the power of sport to inspire change, particularly change in the lives of Londoners and in the physical transformation of east London.'

[metroranger]

The London Festival of Architecture 2008 Boat Tours.

British Waterways 29 & 29 June / Limehouse Basin

British Waterways are offering boat tours of London's future Olympic Site offering a glimpse at what is being planned for the 2012 games.

ticket price - £7

[jerseyboi]

Olympic Delivery Authority budget is £496m for state of the art stadium

Fears are growing that the price tag for the 2012 Olympic stadium in east London has risen nearly 10 per cent to £540m, in yet another financial blow for the games.

An Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) spokesman insisted that the budget remained £496m. However, a source close to the project argued that this price could not be met.

The source added: "This is about design development, ensuring that all sustainability and design commitments are met. This is state of the art and highly sustainable and that costs tens of millions."

Sir Robert McAlpine, which built Arsenal Football Club's acclaimed Emirates Stadium, signed an agreement with the ODA last month to construct the Olympic centrepiece. The group is on heavy incentives to meet the budget, but every project tender is "open book", meaning that sub-contractors could come in with higher-than-expected costs.

The London Olympics have suffered many financial blows, the most serious being the near quadrupling of the overall bud-get from £2.375bn to £9.3bn. The athletes' village is in difficulties as developer Lend Lease struggles to raise funds in the credit markets, and the company is also arguing with ODA over infrastructure costs.

However, sources said that the ODA and CLM, the private sector Olympic delivery partner, have been "juggling" costs at the main park where the key venues will be located. One source said: "We have saved a couple of hundred million in procurement, for example ordering steel early before prices go up."

This means that the ODA, headed by David Higgins, has not yet dipped into its £2bn contingency funds.

The ODA spokesman said: "There is endless speculation about Olympic costs. The sta-dium budget has been published and remains at £496m. We are making great progress on site, starting construction three months early [at the end of this month], and are confident the overall budget and contingency is realistic. We will provide an update on the budget in the summer."

[DarJoLe]

I'm getting so sick of all these reports about the increasing price of the venues that completely neglect to mention that the overall budget of £9.3 billion is still that.

Until Londoners are asked to pay more in council tax I really don't care a jot. And even then I wouldn't mind, say, people within the catchment area of park who will feel the regeneration effects directly, pay more. And that includes myself. I want the park to be well built, not some shoddy landscape that will cost more in upkeep after the Games have gone.

[jerseyboi]

Work to start on Olympic stadium in two weeks

The Olympic Stadium will be the centrepiece of the Games

Building work on London's Olympic stadium will begin in two weeks' time, the BBC has learnt.

The £496m stadium in east London will start to take shape on 22 May.

The 80,000-seat stadium will be the centrepiece for the 2012 Games and will host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the athletics events.

Once the Olympics are over, it will be turned into a 25-000-seat community venue and could also become home to a lower-league football or rugby club.

The construction work is about three months ahead of schedule as work to clear the site has progressed quicker than expected, the BBC's sports correspondent James Pearce said.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) said many buildings have been demolished and 800,000 tonnes of contaminated soil has been removed since the clearing work in the Lea Valley area began in July 2007.

[Zim Flyer]

spammers you have got to love em.

Great news about the start of construction though. With it being good news, expect the news papers to keep quiet about it.

[*England*]

expect the news papers to keep quiet about it

papers and news done good job keeping quiet, first i heard of it was here and i just been watching news for 90 mins!

[DarJoLe]

The bowl portion is complete, site is ready to go.

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr

[NothingBetterToDo]

Originally Posted by *England*

papers and news done good job keeping quiet, first i heard of it was here and i just been watching news for 90 mins!

They were making quite a big deal out of it on BBC News throughout the day, all seemed pretty positive.

[metroranger]

Hi DarJoLe, on your stroll up the greenway did you notice the core going up near the International Station.
You can just make it out on the right hand side of your second picture by the blue & yellow crane, any idea what it is?

image hosted on flickr

[DarJoLe]

Yes, I think it's part of the Stratford City development.

[Madman]

when are they taking the power mast/cables down around the olympic park?

[*England*]

Once cabling work is completed by this summer, the underground cables will be energised allowing the power to be switched to the underground supply and the overhead pylons dismantled towards the end of 2008

[*England*]

soon after that they should start building the velodrome

[metroranger]

Here a couple of snaps of the Aquatics centre site I took from the DLR.

[Chogmook]

From our local rag!

City leads the way in sport
John Scheerhout
10/ 5/2008

MANCHESTER is ahead of London for sporting facilities, says 2012 Olympic Games' supremo Lord Coe.

Lord Coe, the double Olympic champion credited with landing the games for London, said sports facilities in some northern cities were `30 years ahead of London, making the capital a poor relation.

Lord Coe also said the London Games would be a massive economic, cultural and sporting boost for the north west.

When it was suggested many northerners would struggle to view the capital as a poor relation in sporting facilities, he said: "You have any number of facilities that most Londoners would give their right arms for. I talk as a proud northerner, if you like, because Sheffield was my home town. One thing I know is that Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool have had sports strategies and facilities they have built which are 30 years ahead of what we have in London."

He described Manchester's aquatics centre, velodrome and the City of Manchester stadium as `the most extraordinary facilities for elite-level athletes'.

Lord Coe, who is chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Games organising committee, said: "We have used the Olympic games as a catalyst to support those very, very hard-pressed communities in London that have not had the benefit of facilities cities in the north have had."

He said there were no competitors from London at the recent world swimming championships.

He insisted the London Olympics is a huge financial, cultural and sporting boost for the north west.

He said tourism and business is likely to boom, with at least one major contract already won by a Greater Manchester company and many more set to follow. Olympic teams would hold pre-games training camps here with athletes using facilities like Manchester's velodrome and aquatics centre as well as 71 other venues in the north west to prepare for the Games, he said.

He said Old Trafford would host some games in the football competition, adding people from the regions, especially youngsters, who wanted to get to the athletics in London or other events held there may benefit from subsidised rail fares. But he brushed aside suggestions it was folly to build another velodrome in London when Manchester already had a world-class facility.

Lord Coe said: "I would turn that on its head. It would be like London hosting the Commonwealth Games and building a new velodrome and saying `what's the point in Manchester having one when there's already one in London?'

"Here in London we don't have swimming facilities worthy of the name. We don't have international track and field facilities. We don't have world-class cycling facilities. That's for a population of nine million people.

"What we are striving for in London many of our great northern cities have been very familiar with for more than 30 years."

He pointed out the steel being used to build the new Olympic stadium was being provided by a Bolton firm.

A new business network had been launched at Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium to provide a forum where more local businesses could reap rewards from the London Games.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co....e_way_in_sport

[DarJoLe]

Construction on track as London 2012 Aquatics Centre gets planning go ahead

Construction of the London 2012 Aquatics Centre is on track to start this summer after it was granted planning permission last night. The independent Planning Committee for the Olympic Park approved the plans for the Aquatics Centre after public consultation was incorporated into the design development of details such as accessibility and changing facilities in legacy.

The 17,500 capacity Aquatics Centre will form the ‘gateway’ to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and transform into a 2,500 – 3,500 community and elite swimming and diving facility in legacy.

The Planning Committee approved the Games time and legacy plans for the Aquatics Centre which both included design developments that incorporated feedback from a programme of consultation with local people and other groups providing specialist advice on areas such as faith, community and club swimming, design and accessibility.

The further design development included:

· Companion seating with all accessible seats to ensure disabled spectators can sit with family and friends.

· External lift and stairs to link entrances at river and upper levels.

· Separate male, female and team changing as well as village style facilities.

· Roof material changed to enhance landmark design.

· Further sustainability measures to reduce energy consumption and minimise water use, including using pool backwash to flush toilets.

The previously contaminated footprint of the Aquatics Centre has been cleared, over 500 metres of new riverbank are close to completion and intensive final preparations are underway on the rest of site to enable the contractor Balfour Beatty to start construction this summer.

ODA Chief Executive David Higgins said: “This decision keep us on track to start the construction of an iconic venue for the London 2012 Games and the new community and elite swimming and diving facility that London desperately needs. We have appointed a world class construction contractor, the site is almost ready and this summer people will see a new landmark for London start to emerge from what was one of the most contaminated parts of the Olympic Park.”

Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee said: “This is a significant milestone and is great news. I would like to thank everyone involved in this project for their hard work in preparing the planning application. The Aquatics Centre will be a major venue on the Olympic Park, which will provide us with world class swimming and diving facilities for both elite athletes and community usage after the Games. This is the year that construction starts in earnest on the Olympic Park and it is a fantastic sight to see. In four years time London will have a world class Aquatics Centre, a state of the art VeloPark and a new athletics Stadium. These facilities will be at the heart of a wonderful summer of sport in 2012, and for elite and community use for many generations. I hope that this will inspire more people to take up sport and that it will lead to more British medal successes in the years to come.

The Zaha Hadid designed Aquatics Centre is located in the south of the Olympic Park and will be the main ‘Gateway into the Games’, hosting Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo finals and the swimming discipline of the Modern Pentathlon. The Aquatics Centre will have a capacity of 17,500 during the Games, reducing to a maximum of 2,500, with the ability to add 1000 for major events in legacy, and provide two 50m swimming pools and a diving pool, facilities that London does not have at present. Balfour Beatty has recently been appointed to build the Aquatics Centre and huge land-bridge that forms the roof of the training pool and the main pedestrian access to the Olympic Park, construction work will start by the Beijing Games and be complete in 2011.

[Mo Rush]

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

Construction on track as London 2012 Aquatics Centre gets planning go ahead

Construction of the London 2012 Aquatics Centre is on track to start this summer after it was granted planning permission last night. The independent Planning Committee for the Olympic Park approved the plans for the Aquatics Centre after public consultation was incorporated into the design development of details such as accessibility and changing facilities in legacy.

The 17,500 capacity Aquatics Centre will form the ‘gateway’ to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and transform into a 2,500 – 3,500 community and elite swimming and diving facility in legacy.

The Planning Committee approved the Games time and legacy plans for the Aquatics Centre which both included design developments that incorporated feedback from a programme of consultation with local people and other groups providing specialist advice on areas such as faith, community and club swimming, design and accessibility.

The further design development included:

· Companion seating with all accessible seats to ensure disabled spectators can sit with family and friends.

· External lift and stairs to link entrances at river and upper levels.

· Separate male, female and team changing as well as village style facilities.

· Roof material changed to enhance landmark design.

· Further sustainability measures to reduce energy consumption and minimise water use, including using pool backwash to flush toilets.

The previously contaminated footprint of the Aquatics Centre has been cleared, over 500 metres of new riverbank are close to completion and intensive final preparations are underway on the rest of site to enable the contractor Balfour Beatty to start construction this summer.

ODA Chief Executive David Higgins said: “This decision keep us on track to start the construction of an iconic venue for the London 2012 Games and the new community and elite swimming and diving facility that London desperately needs. We have appointed a world class construction contractor, the site is almost ready and this summer people will see a new landmark for London start to emerge from what was one of the most contaminated parts of the Olympic Park.”

Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee said: “This is a significant milestone and is great news. I would like to thank everyone involved in this project for their hard work in preparing the planning application. The Aquatics Centre will be a major venue on the Olympic Park, which will provide us with world class swimming and diving facilities for both elite athletes and community usage after the Games. This is the year that construction starts in earnest on the Olympic Park and it is a fantastic sight to see. In four years time London will have a world class Aquatics Centre, a state of the art VeloPark and a new athletics Stadium. These facilities will be at the heart of a wonderful summer of sport in 2012, and for elite and community use for many generations. I hope that this will inspire more people to take up sport and that it will lead to more British medal successes in the years to come.

The Zaha Hadid designed Aquatics Centre is located in the south of the Olympic Park and will be the main ‘Gateway into the Games’, hosting Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo finals and the swimming discipline of the Modern Pentathlon. The Aquatics Centre will have a capacity of 17,500 during the Games, reducing to a maximum of 2,500, with the ability to add 1000 for major events in legacy, and provide two 50m swimming pools and a diving pool, facilities that London does not have at present. Balfour Beatty has recently been appointed to build the Aquatics Centre and huge land-bridge that forms the roof of the training pool and the main pedestrian access to the Olympic Park, construction work will start by the Beijing Games and be complete in 2011.

so the final design will be seen soon with the final roof material choice etc?

[jerseyboi]

Stadium Breaking Earth Ceremony

A ‘breaking earth ceremony ’ is expected next week at the stadium site, to mark the start work on the new Olympic stadium . The ceremony is expected to have several dignitaries and members of the International Olympic Committee coordination commission, which is making its annual visit to inspect progress.

The mayor will attend his first meeting of the Olympic board this afternoon, the agenda likely to be dominated by preparations for the arrival next week of the International Olympic coordination committee. The IOC's three-day visit will provide the mayor with an early chance to meet perhaps the most crucial stakeholders in the Games.