London 2012 stadium foundations near completion

Over 3,500 of 4,000 permanent piles are already installed for the structure, which will consist of a permanent bowl element with 25,000 seats and temporary structure on top that will seat a further 55,000 spectators.

Watch stunning time-lapse footage of the stadium construction here.

Pictures released by the ODA today also show over 100 columns, each 5m tall, built to provide the support for the podium of the Stadium’s west and south stands.

This also forms the lower ground floor of the West Stand which houses the athletes' changing rooms, a 60m long call track and other back of house facilities such as doping control and treatment rooms.

ODA chairman John Armitt said: "As the eyes of the world turn from Beijing to London, they will see that real progress is being made to create the new venues and infrastructure for the 2012 Games.

"As these new images show, the Olympic Stadium is already beginning to rise out of the ground and over the coming months, we will begin to see the size and scale of this flagship venue. There is still a long way to go and we are not complacent about the challenges ahead, but we have made a strong start out of the blocks."

Eight tower cranes, each between 48 and 60 meters high, have now all been erected in the Stadium bowl for the concrete work and steel and roof erection.

Work is also now underway on the abutments that support the first of the five pedestrian footbridges over waterways that surround the Stadium site.

During the Games the bridge will be one of the main connections for spectators to and from the Stadium to the east of the Olympic Park.

A pre-cast concrete batching plant has been set up on the south part of the Olympic Stadium site to cast almost 200 rakers, the concrete structures that will support the seating units for the lower 25,000 permanent seats.

Have your say

You must sign in to make a comment.