OLYMPICS DESK 

Progress on the 2012 Olympic Park became clearly visible this week as new images reveal the columns of the Olympic Stadium emerging from the ground.

Over 100 columns, each 5 meters tall, have already been constructed and act as the support for the podium of the Stadium’s west and south stands. This also forms the lower ground floor of the West Stand which houses the athletes' changing rooms, a 60metre long call track and other back of house facilities such as doping control and treatment rooms.

The work to create the foundations for the Olympic Stadium is also nearing completion with over 3500 of the 4,000 permanent piles already installed.
 
ODA Chairman John Armitt said: “As the eyes of the world turn from Beijing to London, they will see that real progress is being made to create the new venues and infrastructure for the 2012 Games.

“As these new images show, the Olympic Stadium is already beginning to rise out of the ground and over the coming months, we will begin to see the size and scale of this flagship venue. There is still a long way to go and we are not complacent about the challenges ahead, but we have made a strong start out of the blocks.”
 
In May this year, construction started on the Stadium site three months earlier than originally planned and was witnessed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Eight tower cranes, each between 48 and 60 meters high, have also now all been erected in the Stadium ‘bowl’ for the concrete work and steel and roof erection.   
 
The work is also now underway on the abutments that support the first of the five pedestrian footbridges over waterways that surround the Stadium site. During the Games the bridge will be one of the main connections for spectators to and from the Stadium to the east of the Olympic Park.

A pre-cast concrete batching plant has been set up on the south part of the Olympic Stadium site to cast almost 200 rakers, the concrete structures that will support the seating units for the lower 25,000 permanent seats. The concrete will be supplied from the batching plant on the Olympic Park site which will reduce vehicle movements in the local area.