Contracts have been signed for the construction of the two flagship 2012 venues, the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatics Centre, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) announced yesterday.

Discussions are also at an advanced stage on the Velodrome with a construction contractor due to be appointed in the next few weeks.

Balfour Beatty has won the contract to build the Aquatics Centre and 'Team Stadium' (Sir Robert McAlpine, HOK Sport and Buro Happold) were also confirmed as the contractor for the Olympic Stadium.

The ODA has also confirmed the level of public sector investment for the Aquatics Centre and the VeloPark, including the Velodrome.

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The contract for the construction of the Aquatics Centre and the huge land-bridge that will be the main gateway into the Park during the games and legacy have been procured together and Balfour Beatty will build both elements.

The budget for the Aquatics Centre is £242m and the budget for the land-bridge that will also form part of the roof of the venue is £61m.

The total of £303m has not changed throughout the procurement process and is within the ODA's Baseline Budget as announced by DCMS last December.

In legacy, the Stadium will reduce to a capacity of 25,000, retaining the capacity to host a variety of sporting, educational, cultural and community events with athletics as its core use. The ODA confirmed recently that construction on the Olympic Stadium will start three months early, in May.

The budget for the Olympic Stadium of £496m was published in October last year. Meanwhile, the budget for the Velopark and the legacy conversion is £80m. A contractor is due to be announced for the Velodrome in the coming weeks and construction is due to start in 2009.

(JM/KMcA)