Both before the Games and in legacy it will provide a vital link from the existing town centre to Westfield’s £1.45bn Stratford City Project.
In an unprecedented feat of engineering, the 1,600 tonne, 128m long and 14m wide bridge touched down in Stratford. You can download photos and watch time lapse video of the push here: http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?nav=pr126040312
John Armitt, Chairman for the ODA said: 'The town centre link bridge is crucial to getting millions of spectators from Stratford Town Centre to the other side, into the Olympic Park. It will play a key role during the Games and will play a key role in legacy, allowing residents and commuters to walk freely from one side to the other.'
Keith Whitmore, Director of Design and Construction for Westfield, said: 'This is a hugely complex and groundbreaking feat of engineering which took a large amount of co-ordination and expertise to deliver on time and on budget whilst maintaining a fully operational station.
'Opening in 2011, this vital piece of infrastructure will transform Stratford’s connectivity and unlock access to the powerful new retail and leisure offer at Westfield Stratford City for commuters, residents and all existing and future users of the town centre.'
Patrick Hallgate, Network Rail Anglia route director, said: 'This project took a great deal of planning and collaboration with our partners to ensure all the necessary measures were in place. Learning lessons from the installation of the first two bridge sections, we’re pleased and proud that we’ve been able to deliver this final piece of key infrastructure without any disruption to train services through Stratford station.'
Richard Parry, Interim Managing Director, London Underground said: 'This new footbridge is a huge step towards improving access to the Olympic Park and will help to severely reduce congestion around the Stratford Regional station entrances when it opens in 2011.
'A lot of work and planning has gone into making sure that this new footbridge was installed without affecting London Underground and Overground services and we are delighted to see that this has paid off and that this important milestone has been reached without a hitch.'
The bridge was constructed on site in three sections which were then progressively pushed out on three separate occasions.
The ODA has also published an Accessible Transport update today, you can view this at: http://www.london2012.com/news/publications/pdf/pace-issue5.pdf
Notes to Editors:
1. To download photos of the bridge and to see the time lapse footage of the push, please go to: http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?nav=pr126040312
2. Broadcast quality footage of the bridgeworks can be downloaded from http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?object=a126131973
3. The bridge will open in 2011 when Westfield’s retail-led, mixed-use scheme opens to the public. The scheme is anchored by John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and an all digital Vue cinema.
- Ends –
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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