There seems to be thousands of building workers in Ascot at the moment. It could be that the imminence of Royal Ascot in June means that there are a lot more than normal about or just that they are very noticeable in their high visibility jackets. You cannot go into a shop or cafe in the high street without a worker or two spending their money.

Ascot has been an amazing project and I do not say that just as someone with an interest in the industry. Being an Ascot resident has allowed me to look closely at the way the project has been managed and its impact on our quality of life.

It was estimated that 13,000 truckloads of demolition waste had be moved off site, in addition to thousands of truckloads of materials that needed to come on site. Anyone familiar with Ascot will know that the roads in and out of the area are not the best.

In the event, all the waste left the site and all the new material appeared as if by magic. I do not know of anyone who has a complaint on that score. The only time I was delayed was during the building of the underpass when a road sweeper was washing the mud off the road.

The construction overall has been low-key. The publicity on the project has been almost nil, unlike Wembley. Perhaps the Ascot crowd, with their experience in the betting industry, knew there was no value in setting odds on its completion: the course would be ready for Royal Ascot this year, full stop.

With six weeks until the first meeting, it's difficult to assess how they are doing. There are tantalising glimpses from the high street, but site visits are not available, even for the CIOB. All efforts are focused on holding Royal Ascot and the other prestigious meetings this year.

In the 18 months since the last race, they have built a new stand with a capacity of 54,000, moved the final straight 43 m north, built two underpasses, one for cars and the other for golfers, and goodness knows what else.

As a resident, I will finally get to see what's been done at the first meeting in May. It is projects such as this that make me proud of our construction industry and it shows what can be done. For residents, the rebuilding of Ascot has been a non-event, and is that not what constructing excellence is all about?

Source

Construction Manager

Postscript

Chris Blythe is chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Building