Olympics deals get closer

Design alterations have continued to plague the Aquatics Centre as project insiders revealed that the distinctive wave-form roof, designed by architect Zaha Hadid, will probably be built using glulam beams instead of steel to cut costs. Hadid already redesigned the roof in November 2006 due to budget restrictions, reducing its size by almost a third.

The Olympic Delivery Authority’s (ODA) problems are compounded by the fact that just one bidder Balfour Beatty now remains after Hochtief and Eiffel pulled out in early October. You can see why steel contractor Eiffel didn’t like the timber option. Balfour Beatty was due to put in its price in early November and it’s sure to bust the ODA’s budget.

Asked whether it was prepared for Balfour Beatty pulling out of the bidding, ODA said it had a plan B. This could mean construction managing the project itself, or Laing O’Rourke, part of the ODA’s delivery partner CLM, could step into the brink as a last resort.

Meanwhile, perhaps attempting to dampen concerns over progress, ODA chief David Higgins said work on the main stadium previously slated to begin in the middle of next summer could start up to five months ahead of schedule, in early March 2008, because faster-than-expected progress had been made finalising the design and clearing the site. Designs for the 80,000-seat venue were due as CM went to press, and a deal with Sir Robert McAlpine was expected to be hammered out by mid-November. The cost of building the stadium has now risen to £496m, compared with the original £216m bid.

According to the ODA, nearly half of the buildings on the main stadium site have now been demolished with the rest set to come down by the end of the year. Ground across the site is also being levelled to create a flat construction platform for the stadium.

Contracts for the other two permanent structures the media centre and velodrome are now close. Carillion, Balfour Beatty and Bouygues have put in bids for the 1.3m sq ft media centre site, with a decision expected by mid-November. As the ODA has already said it doesn’t want any contractor to have more than one big scheme, Carillion could be a favourite.

Which leaves the velodrome. Alfred McAlpine, Carillion, FCC, ISG, Shepherd and Wates are preparing bids for the 6,000-seat venue. Could this be Shepherd’s project?