2012 Olympics latest

Balfour Beatty, Skanska and Nuttall have won the bulk of major 2012 Olympic roads and bridges packages worth a total £150m.

Balfour picked up two packages - Lot 3 and Lot 4 - let by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), which include the main stadium area bridges and several footbridges. Skanska took Lot 1, Olympic Park North, and Nuttall won the southern equivalent. Work is expected to begin on site by the middle of March and will be completed in a couple of years, reported Construction News. A further two bridge contracts will be awarded later this year.

Contract Journal (CJ) reported that the ODA will recruit immigration officials to its on-site team in a bid to keep illegal workers off the 2012 job. Games officials are currently in talks with the Border & immigration Agency, which will advise on checks and access systems. One option might include having immigration officials on the Stratford site for the duration of Olympic building work.

Meanwhile, shedding more light on the scope of construction works, ODA construction director Howard Shiplee said the ODA would let over 500 primary contracts and around 15000 'transactional' contracts further down the supply chain, reported CJ.

Building reported that the London Development Agency (LDA) will select two designers to draw up plans for the redevelopment of the Olympic site following the 2012 games. It said the LDA is expected next week to announce that a consortium led by US urban design group EDAW will team up with Dutch masterplanner Kees Christiaanse Architects and Planners.

Their legacy masterplan will be used as the basis for an outline planning application to be submitted in 2009. This will in turn form the basis for the Olympic park's redevelopment after the games.