Author: Martijn

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REVISED STADIUM CONTRACT

In January 2014, Balfour Beatty was awarded a contract to transform the former Olympic Stadium, which included installing the largest single span cantilever roof in the world, constructing the warm-up track, spectator and hospitality facilities, and external landscaping.

This will deliver a multi-use sporting venue ready to host five matches during Rugby World Cup 2015, be the permanent home of West Ham United Football Club from 2016, and the new national competition stadium for athletics in the UK, hosting regional and national age group championships. It will also host elite international events, including the annual IAAF Diamond League meeting, 2017 IAAF World Championships and 2017 IPC World Athletics Championships.
The Stadium will be used for other sporting, cultural and community events as well as a being a high quality facility for local residents. A new community athletics track will also be provided next to the main Stadium, funded by the London Marathon Trust.

This is a unique two year transformation project and a hugely complex engineering scheme, using techniques previously employed on oil rigs. Providing adequate support for the new roof has required significantly more strengthening work to the main roof truss, which was originally designed to be taken down after the Games. We have therefore today agreed to increase the value of the Balfour Beatty contract by £35.9m to £189.9m.

We will meet these costs from the project contingencies and additional income we will generate from our other developments. There will therefore be no additional call on the taxpayer and no impact on our current programme. We will continue to deliver the most successful Olympic legacy in the history of the Games. We are committed to creating a new heart for east London with new jobs and homes, alongside iconic sporting venues and beautiful parklands.

STADIUM FACTS & FIGURES

• The Stadium will be the permanent home of West Ham United Football Club from 2016 and the new national competition stadium for UK Athletics.
• The venue will host five matches as part of Rugby World Cup 2015 as well as the 2017 IAAF World Championships and 2017 IPC World Athletics Championships, the first time these prestigious global events have been staged in the same venue in the same year.
• At around 45,000sq metres and 84m at its deepest point, the new roof will be the longest cantilevered roof in the world, covering every seat in the Stadium and improving the acoustics and spectator experience.
• A new floodlit 400m six-lane (eight on the straights) community athletics track will be built next to the main Stadium. This will be used by the local community, local and regional athletics clubs and also as a warm-up track for elite events within the Stadium.
• The Stadium will meet UEFA Category 4 classification and will be a fully compliant IAAF Category 1 athletics facility.
• The Stadium will house a mixture of facilities including changing rooms, press and media facilities, general back-of-house areas such as catering and preparation kitchens and storage space, as well as areas that will be converted for educational and community use.
• 5,500 tonnes of steel and 6km of cabling are being used in the transformation of the Stadium.
• 5,000 people will have worked two million hours once the Stadium transformation is complete. The peak workforce is expected to reach 500 workers on site with over 30 apprentices also being recruited from the local area.
• Work began on 20 November 2013 to remove the Stadium’s 14 floodlight panels in preparation for the new roof.
• The new Stadium design will have 54,000 seats. This will include:
  • Innovative retractable seating to allow closer pitch-side football views, while retaining an international class running track
  • 428 wheelchair user accessible viewing spaces and 529 easy access seats in athletics mode (these are also the maximum numbers for concert mode which is dependent on stage layouts)
  • 253 wheelchair user accessible viewing spaces and 540 easy access seats in football mode
  • 3,600 corporate hospitality seats
  • A range of boxes and lounges.
• The new football pitch will be 105m x 68m – the same size as Wembley Stadium, the Emirates, the Etihad and Old Trafford.
• There will be 995 toilets, 35 catering outlets and over 90 turnstiles, as well as a new club store and ticket office.
• Sustainable construction methods are being used in the Stadium’s transformation, including recycling features of the Games-time Stadium into the new design and the re-use of crushed demolition material.
• One year on from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Stadium reopened for the finish of the National Lottery Newham London Anniversary Run, where 12,500 competitors were able to follow in the footsteps of their London 2012 heroes watched by 30,000 spectators.
• Between 26 and 28 July 2013, the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games were held in the Stadium to mark the anniversary of the London 2012 Opening Ceremony.

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Source: www.queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk

The overall bill for the Olympic Stadium is set to soar well beyond £600m before West Ham United move in after it emerged that installing the complex roof would be far more expensive than originally thought.

Read full article: The Guardian