The Association for Project Management called it a 'groundbreaking project' and presented the award in recognition of the highly complex and challenging powerlines work being delivered to an unprecedented timetable and within budget.  

The £250m powerlines project saw the construction of two 6-kilometre tunnels built beneath the Olympic Park and Lower Lea Valley region, enabling the power needed for the London 2012 Games and legacy developments to be carried underground. The construction of the underground tunnels enabled 52 overhead electricity pylons to be removed from the Olympic Park skyline, unlocking the landscape for the construction of venues and infrastructure.

The powerlines project began in 2005 ahead of London's successful bid to host the 2012 Games, and was completed in December 2008 when the last overhead pylon in the Olympic Park was removed. The powerlines work saw one of the most complex tunnelling projects in Europe, being delivered in half the time of the industry norm, on budget and with an impressive health and safety record.

Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) Chairman John Armitt said: 'The powerlines project delivered the first real legacy from the Games by unlocking the Olympic Park landscape for long-term regeneration, allowing the skyline of east London to be permanently transformed.

'This was a complex and hugely challenging project delivered on budget and to an unprecedented timetable. This award is recognition of the considerable achievement of the powerlines team, our contractors and other partners.

'The careful planning, collaborative working and innovation used in this project has set a benchmark for world-class delivery, not only for the wider Olympic Park construction projects, but for the whole industry to follow.'

The powerlines project has involved several separate phases:

Feasibility and design phase

Tunnelling phase

Cabling and commissioning phase

Pylon removal phase

• Early procurement and refurbishment of the only worldwide available tunnel boring machines (TBM) to meet the required tunnel diameters and ground conditions.
• Early procurement of power system materials and cables to meet the project programme.
  

• Two 6km tunnels built beneath the Olympic Park enabling the power needed for the Games and legacy developments to be carried underground
• Four huge 40 tonne tunnelling machines used
• Tunnelling work completed in 424 days
• Olympic Park tunnelling accounted for 85 per cent of the UK’s tunnelling for that year
• 200,000 cubic metres of spoil created during tunnelling - enough to fill Wembley Stadium - majority of which is being reused on the Olympic Park
• Complex nature of tunnelling process meant a series of obstacles were encountered during the project, including issues with soil contamination and encountering small ground movements and water ingress beneath the surface of the Olympic Park
• Tunnelling phase was delivered on time, on budget and with an impressive health & safety record which was better than the industry average

• Work began in June 2007 to install 200km of cabling in the tunnels - enough to stretch from London to Nottingham.
• More than 9,000 brackets also installed to carry cabling along the tunnel walls together with monitoring and ventilation equipment.
• Cabling phase of project completed on schedule in May 2008, allowing testing and commissioning of the new underground equipment to begin and be completed without affecting power supplies to existing customers.
  
• Power then switched underground in summer 2008 allowing work to remove the overhead pylons and powerlines to begin.

• 52 overhead pylons removed - 1,300 tonnes of steel, all recycled
• 130km of overhead wires removed
• All pylons within the Olympic Park boundary removed by December 2008 unlocking the landscape
• Pylons through the Lower Lea Valley towards Hackney and West Ham removed by mid 2009.
  

Notes to editors:

1.      Images of the work on the Olympic Park powerlines can be downloaded from http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?nav=pr118840360

2.      The partners and organisations involved in the powerlines project were:

• Olympic Delivery Authority and its Delivery Partner CLM
• Government Olympic Executive, Department for Culture, Media and Sport
• London Development Agency
• EDF Energy Network
• National Grid Electricity Transmission
• J Murphy & Sons
• Ove Arup & Partners
• Gardiner & Theobald

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For further information please contact the Olympic Delivery Authority Press Office on +44 (0)20 3 2012 700.

The construction of the venues and infrastructure of the London 2012 Games is funded by the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor, The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Mayor of London and the London Development Agency.

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