Listening to the Olympic Delivery Authority representatives describing progress on the development of the London 2012 site, you realise why the International Olympic Committee’s Co-ordinating Commission were so impressed on their visit two weeks ago.
The Commission’s Chairman Denis Oswald described the changes taking place on the Lower Lea Valley site in Stratford, East London, as nothing short of astounding, not least because of the fast pace of development. I’d agree with that : I live about five hundred yards from the south-western corner of the Olympic park and can now see the steel structure of the main stadium rising above the rooftops as I walk to the local street market.
What’s also been impressive is the way in which the ODA has seized on the idea of using the Olympic projects to show off what the British construction industry can achieve when it puts its mind to it and how it can break from traditional practices to newer, more sustainable methods of working.
So there’s a target that 50% of materials by weight should be delivered by transport other than road. At the moment, 57% is delivered direct into the site by rail, and the velodrome and aquatics centre are competing with each other to be the first to have materials delivered via the network of canals which criss-cross the site. 90% of waste generated is recycled through a central waste consolidation centre. And there is a commitment that not one stick of uncertificated timber will get onto the site.
That is a tribute to the way in which the timber industry through the Wood for Gold campaign engaged with the ODA to persuade it to adopt a policy which reflected what the industry wanted to offer and could deliver. The 16 companies which make up the timber supplier panel are now central to meeting this commitment. It was evident that the ODA are confident they will, and this is shown by the Tier 1 contactors beginning to run down their contracts with their previous suppliers and switch to those on the panel.
Each major project within the Olympic Park will be the subject of a close-out report at the end of construction to gather the lessons learned for sustainable construction. Practice. CLM, the consortium of project management companies who act as the delivery partner to the ODA, and the Tier 1 contractors are already reported to be seeing the benefit of the new ways of working for themselves and are thinking about how to adopt these practices more widely. The public sector is expected to adopt the lessons for future projects. And no doubt major development clients will want to pick up the benefits for themselves. Meanwhile the ODA and CLM are talking to LOCOG (the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games) so that it can draw on the lessons they have learned.
The joinery package will be tendered in the third quarter of this year, through the e-tendering process.