Construction on the Olympic station in East London started yesterday, 22nd May, 2008 – three months ahead of the schedule date.
The Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Mayor of London Boris Johnson, Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell laid the foundation stone for the £496m stadium for the 2012 Games which will host the opening and the closing ceremonies and track and field events.
The innovative Olympic Stadium design allows for an 80,000 seat Athletics stadium to be converted into a more easily maintained 25,000 seat venue after the Games. A roof will stretch around the Stadium to provide cover and support the lighting and sound systems used to stage the Games. It will also provide a base for special effects during the ceremonies. The Stadium will be built to international track and field standards for athletes.
Here is some numbers about the 2012 Stadium:
- 53m Height of the Olympic Stadium – taller than Nelson’s Column
- 40 acres size of the site – five times the size of the Houses of Parliament
- 800,00 tonnes of soil have been removed to create the platform – enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall nine times
- 24,500 sq m area of the roof – equivalent of three and a-half football pitches
- 10,000 tones of steel used, making it the lightest Olympic stadium yet
- 1,000 construction workers will be based on the site
- 33 buildings have been demolished to make way for the stadium
The bill for the Olympic Games has risen to an estimated £9bn - with the stadium originally costed at £280m.
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