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London Olympics Bridges

2012 Crossing Structures: Development, England, UK: Architecture Information

8 Apr 2009

London Olympic Bridge

First Olympic Stadium bridge lifted into place

New images released by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) today show the first permanent new bridge into the Olympic Stadium site being lifted into place.

The Olympic Stadium is being built on a compact island site which is surrounded by water on three sides. The footbridge now in place is the first of five new bridges that will be constructed into the Stadium site to create essential new links in Games time and legacy.

London Olympics Bridges:

images from Olympic Delivery Authority

The footbridge spans 41m across the River Lea into the western side of the Olympic Stadium site. Work to install the bridge involved erecting a 1,000-tonne mobile crane on site which then lifted the huge 88-tonne steel beams of the bridge into place across the river. With the steel beams in place, work is now underway to install the deck of the bridge which will be completed by the summer, creating a new permanent 11m-wide pedestrian link into the Stadium island that will serve the legacy use of the site. A temporary bridge structure will also be added alongside the permanent bridge to accommodate increased spectator numbers during Games time.

ODA Chief Executive David Higgins said:

“The Olympic Stadium will be at the heart of all activity in the Olympic Park so it is essential we create new links into the site for Games time and legacy. Lifting the first permanent new bridge into place on the Stadium site is an important milestone and maintains the strong progress we are making in creating an open and accessible Park for the Games, and forming new connections between local communities in legacy.”

The site of the Olympic Park is made up of fragmented pockets of land, and in the past has suffered from poor connections between local communities. The structures, bridges and highways project is the single biggest construction project the ODA is delivering and will create new connections across the site and leave an open and accessible area in legacy.

Construction work is now underway on 21 bridges in total, and more than 30 new bridges will be built in the Olympic Park altogether.

London 2012 Olympics – 25 Jun 2008 Media release

Start of construction works on the London Olympics Bridge:

image from Olympic Delivery Authority

Construction of bridges underway as foundations are laid for an open and accessible Olympic Park

Construction work is now underway on the permanent new bridges to be built in the Olympic Park, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) announced today. The work will see the construction of more than 30 new bridges in the Olympic Park to create new connections across the site and leave an open and accessible area in legacy.

Balfour Beatty, one of the ODA’s structures, bridges and highways contractors, has now started work on the foundations of a permanent new bridge in the centre of the Olympic Park. The bridge will span over Carpenters Road to create an essential link for construction traffic between the north and south of the site. The bridge will then become an important part of the central pedestrian concourse through the middle of the Olympic Park in Games time and legacy.

The start of works saw 290 cubic metres of concrete poured to create the first foundations for the abutments of the bridge. Once the foundations and bridge abutments are in place, 23 metre-long steel beams will be lifted into place to form the deck of the bridge which will be operational for construction traffic from November this year.

Balfour Beatty will also begin works later this summer on the huge land bridge that will be the gateway to the Games, taking people from Stratford International and Stratford Regional Stations into the Olympic Park. The land-bridge will form part of the roof of the Aquatics Centre and will be delivered by Balfour Beatty as part of its Aquatics Centre contract. Abutment works on the Stratford City side of the bridge were completed last year and Balfour Beatty will begin work later this summer on the bridge abutments within the Olympic Park.

ODA Director of Infrastructure and Utilities Simon Wright said:

“The start of bridgeworks is a significant moment and shows we are planning for legacy from the very beginning as we start to create the backbone of the Olympic Park and a platform for future development.

“Building new bridges and roads is a crucial element across the life of the project, from creating new links across the site for construction activity, to delivering an open and accessible Park during the Games, and forming new links between local communities in legacy.”

The site of the Olympic Park is made up of fragmented pockets of land, and in the past has suffered from poor connections between local communities. The structures, bridges and highways project will see more than 30 bridges and 20km of roads built in and around the Olympic Park to create new connections across the site.

London Olympic Buildings

WINNER ANNOUNCED IN OLYMPIC PARK FOOTBRIDGE DESIGN COMPETITION

London 2012 Olympics – Games mode

heneghan.peng.architects/©Archimation

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) today announced that Heneghan Peng Architects, with Adams Kara Taylor Engineers, has won the competition to design one of the key footbridges in the centre of the Olympic Park.

The design competition, launched in May, was for multi-disciplined teams to design the footbridge located on the central pedestrian concourse in the Olympic Park. The footbridge spans 26m over the River Lea at a focal point between the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre and Basketball Arena.

The planning and design of the bridge will integrate both Games and legacy use. During the Games the bridge will have a total width of 55 metres to accommodate increased spectator numbers. After the Games temporary sections of bridge will be removed leaving two narrower bridges that span either side of Carpenters Lock, a unique 1930’s historic structure on the River Lea Waterway.

In June a six-strong shortlist of established designers, engineers and emerging young practices were asked to develop concept design proposals for the bridge and the immediate surrounding landscape in Games time and legacy mode. Their designs were assessed by a specialist design jury who selected the Irish based firm Heneghan Peng Architects as the design competition winners.

Heneghan Peng’s concept designs were praised by the design jury for making the bridge a spectacle in Games mode by using the landscape for colour and activity followed by the transformation of the structure in legacy to leave two footbridges linked by a central blade-like walkway offering views over the river and Carpenters Lock.

London 2012 Olympics – Legacy mode

heneghan.peng.architects/©Archimation

ODA Director of Infrastructure and Utilities Simon Wright said:

“The winning team impressed the design jury with their understanding of the need to plan Games and legacy together. Their designs will help us lock-in legacy now by designing a bridge that meets Games-time needs but which also leaves behind a striking structure in the heart of the Olympic Park for future generations to enjoy.

“The jury were impressed with all of the shortlisted teams but Heneghan Peng’s designs emerged as a clear favourite and will help us ensure we continue to aim for the highest standards of design excellence across the project.”

Directors of Heneghan Peng Architects, Roisin Heneghan and Shih-Fu Peng, said:

“We are thrilled to have won this competition particularly after being faced by such incredible opposition. We hope that our design will form an important element within the spectacle of the London 2012 Games and as a striking element of the enhanced connections the Olympic Park will create in legacy.”

The design competition jury included Sarah Buck, who recently took post as the first female President of the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE). Sarah Buck said:

“The same difficult challenge of designing a bridge with a width greater than the span was tackled imaginatively and creatively by the six short listed teams. Heneghan Peng and Adams Kara Taylor have produced an inspired design using modern materials in a particularly innovative way, especially for the legacy mode.”

The design jury was particularly impressed with the way Heneghan Peng’s concept designs brought together a design solution that worked for both Games and legacy. The short span of the footbridge gave Heneghan Peng scope to develop a more creative design than a usual bridge structure by using the surrounding landscape as a way of shaping the bridge structure itself.

The jury also praised the proposals to open up the Carpenters Lock area, creating new meeting spaces, views and links above and below the bridge between the river tow paths, Carpenters Lock and the upper concourse in the Olympic Park.

Following a strong response by more than 46 teams, the ODA shortlisted six teams for the London Olympics Bridges design competition in June:

· McDowell+Benedetti, Jane Wernick Associates, Craft Pegg and Sutton Vane Associates, Richard Wentworth Artist
· Heneghan.Peng Architects and Adams Kara Taylor Engineers
· Ron Arad Associates, Buro Happold and Landscape Architects – BBUK Studio
· Softroom, Eckersley O’Callaghan, Landuse, Atelier Ten and James Bruges Studio
· Future Systems, Adams Kara Taylor, Rendel Palmer Tritton and Lighting Design Partnership
· Tonkin Liu, Atelier One, Grant Associates and BDP Sustainability

The shortlisted teams were assessed by a Design Jury comprising:

· Carl Ainley – British Waterways
· Bob Allies – Allies and Morrison
· Peter Bishop – Design for London
· Sarah Buck – BSW Consulting, President IStructE
· Ricky Burdett – ODA Principal Design Advisor
· Jorgen Nissen – Bridge Consultant
· Kevin Owen – LOCOG
· Simon Wright – ODA Director of Infrastructure and Utilities

More than 30 bridges, temporary and permanent, will be built in and around the Olympic Park in total

Location: Stratford, London, UK