The students from the South Bank University, Imperial College London, The University of East London and Greenwich worked with Olympic Park contractors to plan and build scaled down versions of structures such as the Barcelona Tower, Kingsgate Bridge in Durham, the Millennium Gallery in Sheffield and Brewery Wharf footbridge in Leeds.
The project, known as Constructionarium, is designed to provide students with practical experience of all aspects of delivering a project while working with the contractors building the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre, who could potentially employ them in the future.
ODA Director of Construction Howard Shiplee said: 'We are committed to leaving a lasting employment and skills legacy for London and the construction and engineering industry. Delivering London 2012 and its regeneration legacy will be a great achievement for the UK we want to maximise this opportunity to inspire the builders and engineers of the future.'
Director of the National Construction College Andy Walder said: 'Constructionarium is an excellent example of industry and academia working together to help overcome the ongoing shortage in construction and design expertise, as well as providing our future construction managers with practical skills and experience.
'It is good to see the scheme recognised by such a prestigious project such as the Olympic Park and I hope goes some way to ensure that engineering degrees are meeting industry requirements in addition to providing students with the skills and expertise to manage construction projects.'
Constructionarium has been running annually at Europe's largest construction training provider, the National Construction College, in Bircham Newton in Norfolk since 2003, but this is the first time it has taken place on a construction site.
The ODA’s Jobs, Skills, Futures strategy to boost the employment and skills legacy of the Olympic Park. It is one of a number of programmes aimed at utilising London 2012 to leave a lasting legacy of training and career opportunities in east London, as well as across the engineering and construction industries in general.
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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.
Find out the latest from London 2012 HQ on our blog.
- Images of the Constructionarium event and the models produced can be downloaded at: http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?nav=pr125830997
- The contractors building the Olympic Stadium (Team Stadium) and Aquatics Centre (Balfour Beatty) have contributed significant staff time and materials to the project, the machinery and materials have also been supplied by Olympic Park contractors and suppliers.
