New images released by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) today show the first permanent new bridge into the Olympic Stadium site being lifted into place.

The Olympic Stadium is being built on a compact island site which is surrounded by water on three sides. The footbridge now in place is the first of five new bridges that will be constructed into the Stadium site to create essential new links in Games time and legacy.

The footbridge spans 41m across the River Lea into the western side of the Olympic Stadium site. Work to install the bridge involved erecting a 1,000-tonne mobile crane on site which then lifted the huge 88-tonne steel beams of the bridge into place across the river. With the steel beams in place, work is now underway to install the deck of the bridge which will be completed by the summer, creating a new permanent 11m-wide pedestrian link into the Stadium island that will serve the legacy use of the site. A temporary bridge structure will also be added alongside the permanent bridge to accommodate increased spectator numbers during Games time.

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ODA Chief Executive David Higgins said: "The Olympic Stadium will be at the heart of all activity in the Olympic Park so it is essential we create new links into the site for Games time and legacy. Lifting the first permanent new bridge into place on the Stadium site is an important milestone and maintains the strong progress we are making in creating an open and accessible Park for the Games, and forming new connections between local communities in legacy."

The site of the Olympic Park is made up of fragmented pockets of land, and in the past has suffered from poor connections between local communities. The structures, bridges and highways project is the single biggest construction project the ODA is delivering and will create new connections across the site and leave an open and accessible area in legacy.

Construction work is now underway on 21 bridges in total, and more than 30 new bridges will be built in the Olympic Park altogether.

(CD/JM)