BAM Nuttall to oversee transformation of Olympic Park after London 2012

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Civil engineering firm BAM Nuttall will help transform the Olympic Park once London 2012 is over, the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) announced today.

The British company has won two separate contracts to deliver £76 million worth of the work in the North Park and South Park areas of the site, which will be re-named the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park after the Games.

Around 500 temporary jobs will be created in the process with at least 20 per cent going to local residents in the Host Boroughs and with training and apprenticeship opportunities on offer.

The construction work is expected to take up to 18 months, although the OPLC has structured its phasing so that sections of the Park will be opened to the public from July 2013.

The company is calling the new phase "Clear, Connect, Complete" which will be funded out of the £292 million already set aside in the Olympic budget.

It will clear Games-time overlay including temporary venues, walkways and roads; connect the Park with new roads, cycle and pedestrian paths that stitch across the site and into the surrounding area; and complete permanent venues, bridges and parklands for their legacy use.

It will also prepare the Main Press Centre (MPC) and the Copper Box - the handball arena - for new tenants, and work on the Velopark by creating a mountain-bike trail and outdoor cycle circuit.

"The creation of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will be one of Europe's largest construction projects that will transform the existing infrastructure built for the Games into a new piece of London," said Andrew Altman, the chief executive of the OPLC.

"Through 'Clear, Connect, Complete' we will create an accessible place with public venues, open spaces and connections that reach out to our surrounding communities and entice visitors.

"BAM Nuttall worked on the original Olympic Park and their hands on knowledge will be invaluable in helping us to achieve our target of reopening the Park in phases from July 2013.

"This will be a huge achievement given the scale of construction work that is needed and another example of how legacy plans for the Park are more advanced than any previous host Olympic city."

The company, which was founded in 1865 and is now based in Camberley, has been involved with the site for the past four years.

"We are delighted with the award of these two prestigious contracts that will maintain our long association with the Olympic Park site, which currently spans some four years," said Stephen Fox, the chief executive of BAM Nuttall.

"We have been involved in the successful delivery of numerous projects at the Olympic Park including the original site preparation, the construction of bridges and a great deal of landscaping work.

"These new awards now mean that we will be able to utilise our specialist skills to create a permanent legacy, which will assist in the regeneration of this area of London."

The deal was also welcomed by Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London.

"London is streets ahead of previous Olympic cities when it comes to securing a lasting legacy from the Games and with this contract in place the future of the Olympic Park can now really begin to take shape," he said.

"The creation of thousands of new homes and hundreds of jobs and apprenticeships will bring huge benefits to East London and help drive growth across the capital for many years to come."


Source
By Duncan Mackay
www.insidethegames.biz