Welcome to this third and final special issue of Civil Engineering on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This issue covers the infrastructure legacy of the games, the delivery of which was fundamental to the success of the UK bid.
You will see from these eight papers that the infrastructure legacy goes well beyond the immediate confines of the vast new Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London – the largest green space to be created in London for over a century. It includes long-term transport benefits, new communities, flood alleviation and effective re-use of temporary facilities.
The first paper, by Daothong and Stubbs (2014), notes the commitment made to host the first truly sustainable Olympic and Paralympic Games, which was achieved by establishing a shared vision and building strong partnerships with a variety of stakeholders. The games transformed a neglected part of London into a thriving community, meeting numerous sustainability targets along the way. Securing legacy operators for retained venues almost immediately after the games is also unprecedented.
McNevin (2014) then reviews the planning and delivery of the games legacy and describes four key influences that were vital for success. He describes the common purpose and high levels of collaboration among the multiple stakeholders involved in the planning, design and delivery of games venues and infrastructure that ultimately led to their successful legacy transformation.
Firth (2014) describes how the London Legacy Development Corporation ensured the five new communities that form the new E20 postcode in and around the former Olympic Park will converge socially and economically with the rest of London. With 20 000 new dwellings to be built in the surrounding area over the next decade, the paper concludes with the need to integrate with existing communities and maximise connectivity.
The fourth paper, by Naish and Mason (2014), explains the approach used to plan the long-term legacy of the park – the Olympic Delivery Authority's ‘designing for legacy strategy' – and how the park was quickly transformed from games mode to legacy. Delivery of the transformation works is described and the master plan was able to incorporate design improvements during the execution phase. The paper concludes that a three-phased approach of games, transformation and legacy was an effective way to allocate appropriate resources to each stage.
Pennington (2014) then looks in detail at the design and construction of temporary platform structures used for equestrian events at Greenwich Royal Park, comprising a combination of steel–timber composites or interlocking plastic elements. The design ensured there was no long-term damage to existing grassed areas, prevented high loads impacting on tree roots and ensured operation during significant rainfall events. Dismantling was achieved within 7 weeks and the plastic units have been successfully reused in a wide range of commercial and leisure facilities in the Netherlands and the UK.
Nicholls (2014) next outlines more than £60 million of works associated with the renovation of the 6 km derelict waterway network in the former Olympic Park area. A new lock was the key to reducing flood risk, controlling water levels and turning what had been previously tidal waterways into a locked system. This in turn created the opportunity to establish new habitats along the river edges and integrated into adjoining developments – homes, leisure facilities, enhanced connectivity to tow paths and water space.
Palmer et al. (2014) provide more detail on managing the flood risk at the park and surrounding urban areas. Based on 80 flood risk assessments, the flood mitigation works led to reduced flood risk for more than 4000 residential and commercial properties and thousands of east London residents. The paper concludes that a thorough understanding of the baseline flood mechanism is a fundamental part of the process of identifying appropriate mitigation.
In the final paper Waboso (2014) explores London Underground's £6·5 billion investment programme prior to the games – the first declared public transport games – to ensure the thousands of athletes, spectators, officials and the media were able to move around the capital as Londoners went about their normal business. Key enhancements and legacy elements include upgrades to Stratford station and the Jubilee, Northern, Victoria and Central lines, as well as improvements in reliability and accessibility across the network. He also notes that volunteers were one of the key success stories of the games.
On this note and on behalf of the editorial panel, we would like to thank those who helped produce this issue, especially the authors for sharing their knowledge and experience with us. We hope that you find the papers enjoyable and useful and that they encourage you and your colleagues to consider sharing your own experiences through this and other ICE Proceedings journals.
