Coming on a treat.
With all the stories coming out about financing problems, it's ace to see progress being made.
If you're interested in the Olympics, perhaps you might like to look at the first 2 Olympic photo galleries:
Aquatics Centre
Velopark
Both of these, and future Olympic galleries, will be updated with progress shots as and when we get them.
Janie
Morning Janie,
So far so good. Look forward to seeing more pix as and when they go up.
Er, just to clarify, these aren't actually pictures I - or anybody on Contract Journal - have taken. They're sent to us by the ODA.
LOL!
I don't mind who took em. It's cool to see what's happening.
I drive by the site quite often, but even with all the traffic I can never get a good look at things, cos you know - don't want to crash!
The stadium seems to be flying along - does that mean it's ahead of schedule?
I found this video on YouTube. The first bit isn't stadium related, but stick with it. 'fellrunning' has put together some nice clips and bundled in a few interesting facts too.
The cool thing is, it's not an official vid - a guy has taken a walk with a video camera! Simple!
Consultants have concluded that the 80,000-seat stadium, which will have its capacity reduced to 25,000 seats after the Games, can pay its way as an athletics venue.
The report, which will be presented to Government ministers and London Mayor Boris Johnson next month, says it would be too expensive to convert the stadium into a multi-use venue after the Games.
Games chiefs ruled out a Premier League club such as West Ham United moving in and now they will be presented with evidence from consultants that a ground share between Championship football club Leyton Orient and rugby club Saracens is unachievable.
Both clubs are opposed to an athletics track around the field of play and the Standard has learned that it would cost an extra £300-£400 million to convert the stadium for their purposes after the Games.
After the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002, engineers dug down to create a "bowl" before Manchester City FC moved in. This model would be prohibitively expensive in Stratford due to the high water table and cramped "island" site.
Instead legacy planners from the Mayor's office, concerned that doubt over stadium legacy is undermining confidence in the 2012 project, will make the case for an athletics venue subsidised with commercial rents.
They will present this in next month to the Olympic Park Regeneration Steering Group of Government ministers, the Mayor and heads of the five Olympic boroughs.
Sources say the Mayor is increasingly persuaded by an athletics solution having called for a football tenant to achieve financial security when he first came to office.
A source said: "The football and rugby clubs don't want the athletics track and the cost of converting the stadium is prohibitive at £300-£400 million.
"You are looking at the £500 million already for a 25,000-seat stadium but you can't go and ask for more.
"Boris has realised that the stadium will not work with football and he is coming to appreciate that it is viable as the national athletics centre."
Key to the consultants' business plan for the stadium are back-of-house facilities under the main stand, the so-called "undercroft".
Games chiefs are in talks to let office space to the National Skills Academy and the English Institute of Sport as well as other commercial operators.
Although the preferred option excludes a tenancy from another sport, the stadium may play host to one-off events such as American football and rugby league matches.
Games chiefs have been in talks with the Rugby Football League about staging a world cup final in the Stratford venue.
Live concerts have been identified as another revenue stream.
Games planners are confident the stadium can pay its way using some of the £10 million per year maintenance grant pledged by former mayor Ken Livingstone.
Last year the Standard revealed that demolition of the stadium was one option being considered by 2012 chiefs but this has been ruled out due to the commitment to an athletics legacy.
A realistic legacy plan for the stadium should have been sorted out much earlier, and a stadium design chosen that could have been adapted like the City of Manchester stadium to host football.
It seems daft that two premier league clubs (West Ham and Spurs) are only a few miles away from Stratford, both are looking to improve their grounds, and yet no agreement could be reached to adapt the Olympic Stadium for them to use after.
And why would American Football or Rugby League come to the stadium? Both prefer Wembley if they come to the capital, where there is no athletics track and an extra 65,000 seats.
The whole thing has been very poorly planned.
And if the Olympic Stadium does end up primarily as an athletics venue, it probably means the end of the Crystal Palace stadium as I can't see there being two under-used athletics venues in the capital. It's a shame as Crystal Palace is a wonderful old venue with real history.
Cyrille:And if the Olympic Stadium does end up primarily as an athletics venue, it probably means the end of the Crystal Palace stadium as I can't see there being two under-used athletics venues in the capital. It's a shame as Crystal Palace is a wonderful old venue with real history.
You're right Cyrille, that would be a shame. But there's no room for sentimentality. Crystal Palace wouldn't seem like a 'wonderful old venue with real history' next to the legacy Olympic Stadium. It would look dated and past it. I like CP, but if it has to go, it has to go.
ParsonsGreen:But there's no room for sentimentality.
Well I think there is. Some great old sporting venues around the country around the country are being replaced by identikit bowls with no soul, in the interests of greed or political expediency.
The Olympic stadium is better than some of these, but it will hardly be cutting edge design.
But getting to and from Crystal Palace is not easy (and I say that as someone who lives in south London). At least the Olympic Stadium would have the advantage of excellent transport links, making it easier for larger numbers of people to get to events there, and post-2012 it will immediately be a place with a "history" - associated (hopefully) with some fantastic athletics that could stimulate a resurgence of interest in the sport (both participation and as spectators) that would help make it viable as an athletics venue.
I like your optimism EEPaul. Don't forget the ELLEX though - that should be making a trip to Palace easier.You can already get there from London Bridge and Victoria, which makes it one of the more convenient South London stations.
Although, rumour has it the London Bridge to Victoria link will be closing when the East London line opens.
In fact, perhaps we should start an ELLEX thread... as this one's meant to be about the Olympic stadium!
Work has now started on the roof. Timelapse video of the first truss being lifted into place here.
P.S. New pics in the Olympic Stadium gallery.
Great updates Will.
On the one hand it seems to be going up so fast, on the other hand it's going to be another 9 months before all the roof supports are in place.
It's be brilliant if the ODA released a timelapse video spanning the entire construction. Fingers crossed.
The cost of the Olympic Stadium is becoming a joke. If it ends up costing more than Wembley, as is being suggested, serious questions need to be asked.
It is a far simpler design than Wembley, and far simpler than any previous (recent) Olympic Stadiums.
What is causing the cost to climb so much now?
I don't see how cost inflation can be blamed in the current climate.
danny boy:If it ends up costing more than Wembley, as is being suggested, serious questions need to be asked.
Looks like it's definitely getting that way. Contract Journal have worked out the cost per seat for the Olympic Stadium versus Wembley and the Emirates stadium.
The extra £43m increase in costs is apparently due to the 'change in scope of the project' - a new element to the stadium: an external 'wrap' to clad the structure. Seriously?! And on top of all this, McAlpine are still going to get a bonus! That's crazy!
Has Gordon any plans to cap the bonus awarded to contractors? Amid the uproar regarding bankers giving themselves over-indulgent financial pats on the back for failure to meet targets, shouldn't government employed contractors be treated the same?
More expensive than Wembley?! A bit more egg on the faces of the ODA then.
And that's with about the most simple design for an Olympic stadium in history, certainly a lot more simple than Wembley. The arch alone must have been 10% of the cost.
If McAlpine could build the Emirates so cheaply - about half the cost of the Olympic stadium per seat according to this estimate - why is it costing them so much more to build the Olympic Stadium?
I reckon there was probably more qualified bidders for the Emirates Stadium so the costs had to be more competitive.
The ODA received a number of national and international applications to prequalify for the stadium contract, but the McAlpine-led consortium was the only one that met all the criteria.
With the lack of competition and work drying up all over, McAlpine has the opportunity wring this contract for all it's worth!
Have you seen the virtual tour you can take around the Olympic Stadium?
It's on the ODA website, and it's pretty slick. To save you the hassle of looknig for it, here it is. Check it out. I'd like to see more information added to it, but it's a good start.
http://www.london2012.com/plans/olympic-park/virtual-tours/virtual-tour-january-2009.php