Olympic regeneration powers ahead

The powerlines which currently overshadow the Olympic Park area in the Lower Lea Valley are to be placed in two tunnels underground, with 52 electricity pylons demolished along the six kilometre route from Hackney to West Ham. Today the first of the two shafts on site has reached a depth of 30m which means that tunnelling can start along the 6km route in a few weeks time.

This is also the week the Olympic Delivery Authority became a statutory body after Royal Assent of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act. The ODA has responsibility for building the infrastructure necessary for the Games and ensuring there is a sustainable legacy post 2012.

Tessa Jowell, Olympics Minister, Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), David Higgins, Chief Executive of the Olympic Development Authority (ODA), Jack Lemley Chair of the ODA and Mary Reilly, Chair of the London Development Agency attended an event at the Olympic Park site today.

Ms Jowell said: "This is the start of something big: the tunnelling work we are setting in motion today marks the first stage of the transformation of the Olympic Park to make it a home fit for the 2012 Games.

"But this is about much more than 29 days of sport in the summer of 2012. This huge and impressive powerlines project shows our determination to leave a lasting legacy for generations to come, improving lives and changing the face of London for ever. "

Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, said: "For decades many people have identified the Lower Lea Valley with large pylons and power lines and burying them underground unlocks this precious space enabling us to deliver a lasting legacy of thousands of new homes for Londoners, many of which will be affordable. It will also transform the landscape of east London for the enjoyment of local people and Londoners alike for generations to come.

"Today marks another major development in our programme of delivering the infrastructure necessary for the 2012 Games. In obtaining the planning permission, awarding the engineering contract and seeing remedial work begin on this site so quickly demonstrates that we have wasted no time since our success in Singapore.'

Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), said: "The Olympic Games and Paralympic Games can provide the inspiration to transform communities. This is an important first step in the transformation of the Lower Lea Valley. The undergrounding of powerlines will provide an uncluttered landscape against which the Games can be staged. In two weeks' time I look forward to welcoming the International Olympic Committee's Co-ordination Commission to London and I am delighted to be able to update them on the progress we are making."

David Higgins, Chief Executive of the ODA, said: "This is an important day for London 2012 as it marks the first infrastructure milestone on the Olympic Park site. Placing the powerlines underground is a vital part of our long term regeneration of East London. The ODA has a big challenge ahead to deliver the infrastructure required for the Games. I am confident we can do the job and as importantly that can leave a lasting legacy that will improve people's lives for decades to come."

Mary Reilly, LDA Chair said: "Securing the Games has provided the LDA with a tremendous opportunity to really improve the local environment for people to live and work in a part of London that has not seen this focus for more than a century.

"This milestone marks an important symbolic stage in a huge project that is integral to realising the potential of what was the heart of London's Victorian industrial revolution. Yesterday's announcement from the Secretary of State confirming the Compulsory Purchase Order is an endorsement of our regeneration case and will enable the next stages to be taken forward."

Notes to Editors:

• The powerlines project is currently managed by the London Development Agency, which is working in partnership with contractor J Murphy and Sons and EDF Energy and National Grid.
  

Key facts

• 52 pylons will be dismantled that support 13km of overhead electricity lines across the Lower Lea Valley in East London.
• 2 tunnels, each 6km long, are being constructed to take the cables underground. Work on the first tunnel will now start in the coming weeks. The second is on a different timescale. The project is scheduled for completion in 2009 when power will be switched from overhead to the underground supply.
• The powerlines will connect Hackney and West Ham substation, part of the super grid that supplies London from Holloway in the North, The City in the West and Docklands in the South. They will travel west of the Stratford City development site and beneath Hackney Marshes.
• The tunnels will be 3m to 4.5m in diameter, both requiring sophisticated ventilation, and lined with 11,000 concrete rings fitted with gaskets to ensure they are watertight.
• 4 Tunnel Boring Machines will be utilized. They are specially made in Canada.
• 250,000 cubic metres of spoil will be produced by the tunnelling process, which will be re-used to construct the Olympic Park.
• Machines and workers will access the tunnelling construction via 10 shafts, up to 40m below ground and up to 15m in diameter
• The project is being delivered by a partnership between the London Development Agency, the Olympic Delivery Authority, EDF Energy and National Grid.
• The project Budget is around £230m funded by Government for the long-term regeneration of the Lower Lea Valley.
• The work being undertaken will help manage the future electrical supply requirements of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and, in legacy, East London. The project itself has no bearing on the timetable for other infrastructure projects on the site.

The Olympic Delivery Authority is a statutory corporation set up under the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006.

Media Enquiries

Contact the Olympic Delivery Authority Press Office on 020 3 2012 700


Click here to download images of powerline tunnel