Friday 28 November 2014

New roof to be installed on Olympic Stadium


A new roof will be installed on the Olympic Stadium as part of a £190m transformation of the east London venue.
The roof will be lifted into place at 10:30 GMT, weather permitting.
At twice the size of the previous roof, it weighs over 6,000 tonnes and will cover every seat in the stadium.
The roof is designed to improve acoustics for spectator events and will be ready in time for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
'Technically challenging'
At 84m at its deepest point, the roof is covers 45,000 sq m and is believed to be the largest cantilevered roof in the world.
Over a four-week period, 8km of cable netting was lifted and connected to the roof, weighing a total of 930 tonnes.
Stuart Fraser, stadium transfer project director for construction company Balfour Beatty, which is installing the roof, said the stadium was "technically challenging".
New floodlights will be installed, along with hospitality suites, toilets and turnstile areas. Costs have risen by £36 million because of the need to strengthen existing steelwork.
Work on the stadium is due to be completed in spring 2015, and Premier league team West Ham United are set to move to the arena in 2016. BBC NEWS