The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has released new aerial images showing the transformation of the Olympic Park, with the construction of the permanent venues nearing completion and the parklands taking shape.

The Olympic Park 'big build' is now nearly 80 per cent complete and the main venues remain on track to be completed this summer – a year before the Games.

ODA Chairman John Armitt said: "The 'big build' of the main Olympic Park venues is on track to complete this summer as planned, ready for test events ahead of the Games.

"These new images show the transformation of a former industrial area into a great new park with world-class sports venues and a new network of roads, bridges and infrastructure built for the Games."

Recent progress on the Olympic Park includes:

Olympic Stadium: The Stadium is structurally complete with all spectator seats installed. The lighting towers are in place and the lights have been tested. The turf for the field of play is ready to be laid and the running track will be installed later this year.


Aquatics Centre: The permanent structure of this venue is complete with the wave-shaped roof in place. Work is underway on the temporary seating stands for the Games, the sweeping timber ceiling and the bespoke concrete dive boards. The dive pool and two 50m pools have been tested and tiling is in progress. Moveable floors and separator booms are currently being installed to enable a range of community use after the Games.

Velodrome: The Velodrome is the first permanent sporting venue on the Park to be completed and handed over to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) for overlay works.

Handball Arena: The structure of this venue is complete and water-tight. The sprung wooden floor is finished and all of the fixed multi-coloured seating is in place, with work about to start on the lower, retractable seating tier.

Basketball Arena: Two-thirds of the 12,000 seats are now in place in this temporary venue. The concrete base of the court has been poured and all the external rooms are in place and are being fitted out.

Olympic Village: More than three-quarters of the residential plots are structurally complete with the structure of the Chobham Academy school also nearing completion. Work is progressing on the state-of-the-art polyclinic and the creation of the Village wetlands and landscaping is well underway.

Parklands: Work is progressing well on the creation of around 250 acres of new parklands that will provide a colourful festival atmosphere for the London 2012 Games. Over 1,500 trees and thousands of wetland plants have been planted and meadows sown around the Olympic Stadium. The large wetland bowl in the north of the park is close to completion with riverside spectator lawns, timber seating, frog ponds, loggeries, wildflower meadows, woodlands and footpaths in place.

The permanent new Primary Substation, Sewage Pumping Station and Energy Centre are operational, while more than half of the new bridges and underpasses on the site are structurally complete.

(CD/GK)