Olympic Park powerlines project surges ahead

Two six kilometre tunnels have been dug beneath the Olympic Park, enabling the power needed for the Games and the legacy communities after 2012 to be carried underground and the overhead powerlines which run across 52 pylons in the Park to be removed. The tunnels were finished last year on time and on budget, marking the first Olympic Park construction project to be completed.

More than 200km of electrical cables will be installed in the tunnels – enough to stretch from London to Nottingham. Cable installation work in the first tunnel has now been completed and cabling works are also now well underway in the second tunnel. Around 150km of cabling has now been laid in total bringing the project up to the three-quarter mark stage.

ODA Chief Executive David Higgins said:

'The delivery of the powerlines project is vital in ‘unlocking’ the Olympic Park site as we prepare for the start of construction of world class venues and infrastructure later this year.

'Completing the powerlines tunnels last year was an important achievement but on a project of such scale and importance it is vital that we continue to hit key targets. The significant progress we are making to create a brand new electrical infrastructure within the tunnels keeps us on track to hit further milestones ahead of the Beijing Games this year.'

The installation of monitoring and ventilation equipment is also now complete in one of the tunnels, with installation work now beginning in the second tunnel. More than 9,000 brackets have also been installed to carry cabling along the tunnel walls.

The acceleration of the powerlines project keeps the ODA firmly on track to achieve one of its ten milestones to Beijing announced last year. Of the ten milestones to be achieved by the 2008 Beijing Games, the second stated that the powerlines tunnelling and underground cabling work will be complete, meaning the power for the Olympic Park will be set to switch underground later this year.

Once cabling work is completed later this year, the underground cables will be energised allowing the power to be switched to the underground supply and the overhead pylons dismantled towards the end of 2008.

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For further information please contact the Olympic Delivery Authority Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 700.

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