Leaders of the London Olympics at the Olympic Park construction site. (N.O’Shea/ATR)(ATR) Construction on the London 2012 aquatics center gets underway, while a new government report underlines ongoing concerns over funding of the Olympic village project.
The Zaha Hadid-designed aquatics venue, costed at $606 million, is being built by Balfour Beatty.
The 17,500-capacity venue for swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo will include two 50-meter pools, facilities London presently lacks. In legacy mode, it will reduce to 2,500 seats.
"Last April the ODA set out a series of challenging milestones we were aiming to achieve on the project by this summer, so that the public could judge the progress we are making," said ODA chairman John Armitt as he launched a new set of targets for the coming year.
"We have hit these deadlines in virtually every regard and exceeded them in some cases," he said.
"We have started construction early on both the Olympic stadium and the aquatics center, which will form a fantastic gateway to the Games and provide permanent world-class swimming and diving facilities for the capital."
But while the ODA claims work is beginning two months ahead of schedule, the government's July report on the 2012 Games published Thursday highlights concerns around financing the Olympic village.
The $2 billion project is the largest undertaking in the 2012 construction program and requires more public financing because constructor Lend Lease is struggling to raise the project debt due to the global credit crunch.
"The financial deliverability of this scheme has been significantly affected by the downturn in the financial and property markets since the turn of the year so the ODA and Lend Lease are having to restructure the proposed arrangement," the Department for Culture, Media and Sport says in its six monthly update to its annual report to Parliament.
"Negotiations to establish a restructured deal have been progressing, as has consideration of fall-back plans if a restructured deal proves not to be deliverable."
The athletes' village will house 17,000 athletes and officials during the Olympics and will be converted into 3,500 new homes after the Games.
The ODA was to have contributed $1.1 billion, recovering $490 million from the sale of affordable housing post-2012. Lend Lease was expected to raise $900 million for the project, but the banking crisis and falling house prices are making this projection unlikely.
The report says the Ministerial Funders’ Group will consider any additional public sector contribution that may be required, "including the potential to recover the contribution through an increased share of future sale proceeds".
Work is underway on the village site, initially funded by the ODA while it finalizes contract terms with Lend Lease. And the DCMS insists "there is currently no threat to the readiness of the village for the Games".
Meanwhile, the ODA says it has hit virtually all its milestones to Beijing program and unveiled another 10 targets for the year to July 27, 2009 - three years away from the London Olympics opening ceremony.
Many of the achievements of the past year cover the cleaning and clearing of the 2.5 square kilometer Olympic Park site in east London. This has included demolition of 192 buildings, excavation of over one million cubic meters of soil to shape the park and completion Early work on the Olympic Stadium. (ATR)of two six kilometer tunnels and 200km of cabling.
Construction work on the 80,000-seat Olympic stadium also began three months early, starting May 22.
"We have made a very solid start though realize that tough challenges will lie ahead," said Armitt.
LOCOG chair Sebastian Coe said the next year would see construction start in earnest on the Olympic Park. "These facilities will be at the heart of a wonderful summer of sport in 2012 and for elite and community use for many generations," he said.
Olympics minister Tessa Jowell said the ODA should be congratulated on delivering virtually all its major milestones to Beijing. "This should inspire confidence as we move in to the next crucial big build stage of the project," she added.
Milestones for the year ahead include the removal of 52 pylons currently scarring the site as power switches underground, the completion of the Olympic stadium and aquatics center foundations, the completion of the works at the Weymouth and Portland sailing venue and work underway on the foundations of the VeloPark and International Broadcast Center/Main Press Center.
Aquatics ODA chief John Arnitt: "We have made a solid start". (N.O’Shea/ATR)Center key facts:
· The aquatics center is located in the south of the Olympic Park and will be the main ‘Gateway into the Games’, hosting swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo finals and the swimming discipline of the modern pentathlon
· It will have a capacity of 17,500 during the Games, reducing to a maximum of 2,500 in legacy, with the ability to add 1,000 for major events, and provide two 50m swimming pools, a diving pool and dry diving area
· Eleven industrial buildings have been demolished on the 55,000 square meter site
· Around 130,000 tons of soil have been dug out on of what was one of the more challenging and complex areas of the Olympic Park contaminated with pollutants including petrol, oil, tar, solvents and heavy metals such as arsenic and lead
· Four skeletons were discovered and removed from a prehistoric settlement discovered on the site of the aquatic center
· 140,000 tons of clean soil has been brought from other areas of the Olympic Park to prepare for construction to start
· Planning permission has been achieved and Balfour Beatty was recently appointed to build the venue and huge land-bridge that forms the roof of the training pool and the main pedestrian access to the Olympic Park. Construction work will be complete in 2011 for test events ahead of the Games
· The sweeping roof, which is 160m long and 95m at its widest point, is an innovative 2,800-ton steel structure.
· The design team is currently considering different types of timber cladding for the internal ceiling of the venue and the sides of the roof supports. The timber selected will be tested over the next 12 months to ensure it works both for the Games and in legacy before installation in 2010
· The budget for the Aquatics Centre is £242m and the budget for the land-bridge that will also form part of the roof of the venue is £61m. The total of £303m [$606m] has not changed and is within the ODA’s Baseline Budget as announced by the DCMS last December.
With reporting from click here.
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