The site

Over the past few decades London has been developing eastward, creating a new hub. The Olympic Park is the most recent chapter in East London's regeneration, following on from the construction of the new financial business centre of Canary Wharf, the world's busiest entertainment venue in O2, the international exhibition and conference centre of ExCeL London, and the Docklands Light Rail service.

Work is well underway on the 246 hectare Olympic Park site with 90% of the 220 buildings demolished and over one million cubic metres of soil excavated.

The scale of construction already in progress has been described by recent UK government committee reports as ‘awe-inspiring’.

Here is an idea of the work that has already taken place:

  • contaminated soil has been dug out of more than 50% of the Olympic Park site
  • 200 kilometres of underground cabling have been laid
  • 12 kilometres of tunnels for powerlines have been completed
  • 2.5 kilometres of railway sidings have been moved so that work can begin in the centre
  • 2.6 kilometre extension of the Docklands Light Railway from King George V to Woolwich Arsenal
  • 90% of material generated from the demolition within the Olympic Park has been reused or recycled
  • first of 55 new Docklands Light Railway (DLR) rail cars has been delivered

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