Spanning the River Lea at a focal point between the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre, the central park footbridge is composed of both permanent and temporary elements accommodating for Games and legacy use alike.

The new construction features two permanent footbridges linked by a central blade-like walkway, which creates a "Z" shape clad in mirror-finish stainless steel that spans the river, and for Games time a multicoloured temporary deck has been placed between the permanent spans of the bridge to increase the width, allowing for heavy spectator pedestrian traffic.

It is this temporary bridge deck that features the London 2012 brand colours by way of a colourful rubber surface, which will be removed after the Games to create new links from the Olympic Park concourse level down to the river towpaths and Carpenters Lock - a historic British Waterways structure on the River Lea.


The areas surrounding the bridge will then be landscaped to create new meeting spaces and the permanent architectural elements of the bridge will be further revealed with its mirror-finished stainless steel cladding designed to reflect the sunlight off the water in the river.

"With the main Olympic Park venues in place we are now seeing the completion of crucial new infrastructure to help stitch the site together and create an open and accessible new park for London," said ODA director of infrastructure and utilities Simon Wright.

"With its colourful Games-time design and striking architecture in legacy, the central park bridge creates a new focal point in the Olympic Park for spectators and future generations to enjoy."

The bridge was designed by Dublin-based Heneghan Peng Architects after they won the competition that was held in 2007 to select an emerging architectural and engineering practice to create a structure in the centre of the Park.

Working in partnership with the winning architects, Adams Kara Taylor Engineers completed the construction of the winning bridge design, which required a total of 125 tonnes of steel.

The central park bridge, which was last week shortlisted in the Prime Minister's Better Public Building Awards, is part of the wider Structures, Bridges and Highways project - the single biggest construction project the ODA has delivered to create new connections across the Olympic Park.

Construction work is now 90 per cent complete on more than 30 new bridges and underpasses that cross waterways, roads and rivers to create a connected, open and accessible Olympic Park for Games and legacy.

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