Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) chairman John Armitt, no stranger to large construction projects during a career encompassing John Laing, Costain and Union Railways, said: “To complete a complicated project such as this in less than three years is testament to the skill and professionalism of the UK construction industry.”
He added: “I would like to thank the Team Stadium consortium and all of the workers for their hard work and commitment. It is thanks to them that we can today celebrate this huge milestone for the London 2012 project and be proud of what can be achieved by UK plc.”
More than 240 UK businesses have won contracts for the construction of the stadium and more than 5,250 people have worked on the project over the past three years.
Secretary of state for culture, media and sport Jeremy Hunt said that the stadium “shows that Britain is at the forefront of the construction world”.
Chairman of the International Olympic Committee athletes’ commission and four-time Olympic silver medalist sprinter Frankie Fredericks also offered his congratulations to the contractors. “Athletes that have spent a lifetime training for their Olympic dream deserve to be able to achieve it in the best possible conditions. I believe that those competing here in 2012 will not be disappointed,” he said. “I would like to congratulate everyone involved in the construction of London’s Olympic Stadium for producing a truly outstanding sporting arena.”
London Mayor Boris Johnson said that the “faultless construction of the stadium” was “a shining example of how London is primed and ready to host the greatest show on earth”.
The Team Stadium consortium comprised:
- Construction Contractor - Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd
- Architect and sport venue design – Populous, formerly HOK Sport Ltd
- Structural and building services engineer - Buro Happold
- Landscape architect - HED
- Planning consultant - Savills Hepher Dixon.
Comment
Indeed an achievement, and in stark and glorious contrast with the new Wembley stadium, finalyl completed four years ago by Australian company Multiplex, coming in more than a year late, well over budget and surrounded by legal recriminations.
Lest we get too carried away with chest thumping, however, remember that UK companies have had their high profile screw-ups on stadia too. Cost over-runs on the Millennium stadium in Cardiff was the principal factor in the collapse of John Laing Construction a decade ago, allowing Ray O'Rourke to buy the company for just £1.
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