Construction starts early on major venue

 The venue will form a stunning gateway to the Olympic Park both during and after the Games and will provide new world-class swimming facilities that London is currently lacking.

The announcement comes as the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) outlined its progress against the 10 milestones it set out in April 2007 to achieve by the Beijing 2008 Games.

Virtually all these milestones have been completed on time, including the tunnelling and cabling project to allow power for the Park to be switched underground. More than 200km of electrical cabling has been installed into the two 6km long tunnels. The completion of the tunnels will enable over 50 overhead pylons to be taken down across the Park.

More than 190 buildings have been demolished across the Park to make way for construction to start on three of the five main venues – the Olympic Stadium, the Olympic Village and now the Aquatics Centre.

The ODA has now published the 10 new milestones that it aims to achieve by 27 July 2009 – three years from the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. These include the removal of the overhead pylons across the Park and the completion of the foundations of the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre.

Olympics Minister, Tessa Jowell said: ‘The Aquatics Centre will provide desperately needed swimming and diving facilities for elite and community use and leave a lasting sporting and social legacy that will benefit east London and beyond for many years.
‘The ODA should also 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.’

Download ‘the big build: foundations’ document.

Read the full media release