LONDON 2012: Organisers release aerial shots of Olympic Park progress

By Sportsbeat staff

LONDON 2012 have released a series of aerial images to underline progress at the Olympic Park.

BIG BUILD: An aerial view of the Olympic Village, with the basketball arena, velodrome and media and broadcast centre also in view (ODA) CLICK TO ENLARGE

The Olympic Delivery Authority last week confirmed their budget remained at £9.2 billion, with the anticipated cost £7.3bn.

Chief executive Dennis Hone insists there is still ‘hard work to do' but with the first test events scheduled for this summer, the progress - from the sky at least - appears encouraging, with a peak of 12,000 now working on the site.

The stadium roof is complete and photos show that all spectator seats are installed, while turf will be laid in the coming weeks and the running track will be installed later this year.

Work has now also commenced on the temporary seating at the aquatic centre, while tiling is now underway in the pool.

At the Olympic Village, more than a quarter of residential plots are structurally complete and the Chobham Academy school, a major legacy project, is near completion.

ODA officials also report that work is well underway on the creation of the Village wetlands while elsewhere, the structure of the copper clad handball area is now complete and two thirds of the 12,000 basketball arena seats are in place.

"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," said ODA chairman John Armitt. 

"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 and legacy." 

However, ODA officials have admitted they have had to pump money into failing subcontractors to ensure vital elements of their complex project are delivered.

Costs at the village have risen by £11 million to £709m, largely due to the cost of paying for continued supply from four companies that had either gone into administration or were close to collapse.

The ODA has confirmed that two companies, cladding firm Trent Concrete, and bathroom pod manufacturer EJ Badekabiner, have collapsed in the last three months on the Olympic project.

Hone, who succeeded David Higgins as ODA chief executive earlier this month, admitted his organisation was paying extra to the firms administrators in order to keep production going.

MORE IMAGES BELOW

ALL SEATED: All seats have now been installed at the 80,000 capacity London 2012 Olympic Stadium (ODA)

MEDAL FACTORY: British cycling hopes to continue its Beijing success at the velodrome, which opens for business today (ODA)

ICONIC: The wave shaped roof of the aquatic centre is now sandwiched between two temporary stands for swimming and diving events (ODA)