Apologies for the lack of consistent updates - been uber busy!
2012 London Olympics
Olympic Park
Pics taken by
Ciudad Bristol at SSC.
Basketball Arena
Webcam snapshot captured by
Ejit at SSC.
Water Polo Arena
jdjones at SSC managed to source images of the temporary Water Polo arena (5,000 capacity) which is due north of the Aquatic Centre.
Olympic Stadium
Sourced by DarJoLe at SSC, taken by
spitfire13 on flickr.
Aquatic Centre
Pictures takne by
Ciudad Bristol at SSC.
Velodrome
The alluminium cladding is going on, and soon work should begin on the wooden cladding. This is set to be complete by January - a year and half early. Pics taken by
jdjones at SSC.
And a webcam snapshot sourced by
Sesquip at SSC.
Olympic Park
Work is underway to create around 250 acres of new parklands, on former industrial land, that will provide a colourful and festival atmosphere for the London 2012 Games and afterwards become the largest new urban park in the UK for over 100 years.
The first of 4,000 new semi-mature trees are taking root in the Olympic Park with around 100 ash, cherry and hazel trees, grown in Hampshire, already planted.
The first of 300,000 wetland plants, grown in Norfolk and Wales for the UK’s largest ever urban river and wetland planting, were laid on the river banks today by Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson, TV Gardener Charlie Dimmock, Olympic Gold medal winner Jonathan Edwards, Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) Chairman John Armitt and children from the Olympic Park construction crew.
The new reed beds are being created in a large wetland bowl in the north of the Olympic Park, formerly a 100 year old landfill site, where visitors during the Games will be able to relax and watch the action in 2012 on live screens. In legacy the riverside area will be a tranquil space for people and wildlife which will also help protect 5,000 properties in the area from flooding.
New webcams enable people to watch the park taking shape first-hand.
ODA Chairman John Armitt said: 'The parklands will be the centrepiece of the Olympic Park during the Games and are at the heart of the long-term transformation of this part of east London. We have cleaned up formerly industrial land, much of it contaminated, and opened up inaccessible river banks to start creating a new great park that will be enjoyed by people and wildlife for generations to come.'
Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson said: 'The parklands will be a fantastic addition to the Olympic Park, giving people the chance to enjoy all the sporting action in unique and relaxed surroundings and making a visit to London 2012 a day to remember.
'After the Games this former industrial wasteland will be a wonderful community facility where people inspired by the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be able to go to play sport.'
Olympic gold medallist and LOCOG Board Member Jonathan Edwards said: 'For athletes and spectators alike, the Olympic Park is going to be a magnificent place to be in 2012 and today is another step in the transformation of the Park. Athletes competing at the Games are going to have a fantastic experience, they will be right next to the park in the heart of the action and Londoners will be left with a wonderful, green park.'
Natural England director for South East England Alan Law said: 'Natural England is working with the ODA to ensure that the natural environment will be one of the major winners as a result of the Games. The Olympic Park is a great example of how an industrial environment can be transformed to meet the needs of people and wildlife and create new opportunities for health, recreation and enjoyment. London 2012 is well on the road to realising a unique green legacy.'
Wetland plants
Over 300,000 wetland plants are growing in Thetford, Norfolk, for the UK’s largest ever urban river and wetland planting. Over 30 species of native reeds, rushes, grasses, sedges, wet wildflowers and irises have been grown initially by Salix in its nursery on the Gower peninsular in Wales with around a third grown from cuttings and seeds collected in and around the Olympic Park before construction started in 2008. The plants have been grown-on in waterbeds on coir mats in Thetford and are now being transported and planted on the Olympic Park riverbanks.
Trees
A total of over 4,000 semi-mature trees are being planted in the Olympic Park and Olympic Village, in what is thought will be the largest one-off planting of its kind in the capital.
More than 2,000 semi-mature British-grown trees have been hand-picked to form the roots of the central parklands. The four to seven metre trees, grown by Hilliers Nurseries in Hampshire, are predominantly native species such as ash, alder, willow, birch, hazel, cherry, poplar, London plane and lime. The trees will provide shelter from wind and sunshine across the park, willow, poplar and alder will be planted in river areas to withstand flooding and species vulnerable to climate change have been avoided.
Olympic Park clean up
The green clean-up of the 2.5km2 Olympic Park, much of it contaminated through decades of industrial use, has consistently beaten its tough sustainability targets since it began nearly four years ago. Nearly two million tonnes of contaminated soil has been cleaned for reuse on the Olympic Park in the UK’s largest ever soil-washing operation, over 98 per cent of demolition materials on site have been recycled, ten football fields have been cleared of invasive Japanese Knotweed, over 20 million gallons of contaminated groundwater treated and over 5km of riverbanks replaced or refurbished with 30,000 tonnes of silt, gravel and other materials dredged from the rivers. For more information visit:
http://www.london2012.com/press/medi...d-on-track.php
ODA Project Sponsor John Hopkins said: 'After all the hard work it is wonderful to see the parklands rising out of this former industrial landscape. This is our most challenging year. We have made a great start and are on target to complete the majority of the parklands by the middle of next year.'
Other features of the transformation of the Olympic Park from ‘brown to green’ ready for the Games and legacy
* Wetland bowls and rare wet woodlands in the north of the Park create habitat and help manage floodwater, protecting new housing and venues and 5,000 existing properties from a 1:100 year storm. Rainwater is captured through porous paving and cleansed through a network of swales, ponds and reedbeds before flowing into the river.
* The London 2012 Garden stretching for half a mile on the Waterworks riverbank between the Aquatics Centre and Olympic Stadium and celebrating centuries of British passion for gardens and plants. It will include picnic lawns, seating and 60,000 plants and 60,000 bulbs from 250 different species.
* A riverside Royal Horticultural Society Great British Garden, overlooking the Olympic Stadium, which two amateur gardeners, Rachel Read and Hannah Clegg, helped to design after their competition entries won a public vote.
* New habitats for species including: otter; kingfisher; grey heron; bee; house sparrow; bat; song thrush; starling; toadflax brocade moth; lizard; black redstart; flower and fungus beetle; frogs, newts and toads; eel; water vole; slow worm; grass snake; linnet; sand martin; swift; and invertebrates.
* Feature planting designed by the Klassnik Corporation, We Made That and Riitta Ikonen - an art collective based in the Host Boroughs - to represent the industrial heritage of the Olympic Park site.
* 250 benches and over 3,300 seats built into the parklands so that people are never more than 50m-walk from a seat.
* Further legacy features of the Olympic Park green space:
* The southern part of the Park will focus on retaining the Games spirit, with riverside gardens and areas for markets, events, cafes and bars in legacy.
* The northern area of the Park will use the latest green techniques to manage flood and rainwater, while providing quieter public space and habitats for hundreds of existing and rare species from kingfishers to otters.
* Park hubs with play areas.
* A 6m-wide, one mile road cycle circuit built into the parklands around the Velodrome and crossing the River Lea, with lighting for year round and evening use but low level UV values to protect bats. Also 6km of off-road mountain bike tracks and a network of cycle paths across the Park including National Cycle Network Route 1.
* A large oval lawn with an amphitheatre setting in the north of the Park suitable for games, picnics and other leisure activities.
* Four football fields (2.1 hectares) worth of secure and accessible allotments.
* 5km of restored and accessible previously neglected rivers, including the original Carpenters Lock restored in a riverside bowl in the centre of the Park, connecting the northern and southern areas.
* Mounds and hills across the Park for tumbling in summer and sledging in winter.
* Temporary tree-lined daffodil, bluebell, clover and primrose meadows that vary through the seasons, created on the development land on the northern entrance to the Park that may not be developed for many years. Rather than traditional construction hoarding, which would deter people from using the Park, this unique use of parklands also reduces long-term security costs.
* Hanging gardens’ thirty foot above ground on the huge footbridge from Stratford City with meadows, lawns, shrubs and rows of trees welcoming people over the main walking entrance into the Park.
* A tree-lined ‘park road’ into the north of the Park modelled on The Mall and Birdcage Walk next to St James’s and Hyde Park, with distinctively designed surfacing, lighting and bollards and traffic management so visitors feel like they are in the park.
* A new regional sports club set in parklands with a tranquil garden square centred on the original Eton Manor Boys Club war memorial and lined with Sweet Gum trees which turn red around Remembrance Day.
* Large concourse areas reduced in size in legacy and broken up with ‘islands’ of plants, trees and meadows.
* New landscape designs around the Aquatics Centre include planted hills with seating providing views across the river to the 2012 Gardens.
Text and images sourced by
DarJoLe over at SSC.
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