Huge 2012 Olympic bridge shunt touches down

The 1,600 tonne, 128m long and 14m wide bridge has now touched down in Stratford. ODA Chairman John Armitt said: “The town centre link bridge is crucial to getting millions of spectators from Stratford Town Centre to the other side, into the Olympic Park. It will play a key role during the Games and will play a key role in legacy, allowing residents and commuters to walk freely from one side to the other.”
Network Rail’s Anglia route director, Patrick Hallgate, said: “This project took a great deal of planning and collaboration with our partners to ensure all the necessary measures were in place. Learning lessons from the installation of the first two bridge sections, we’re pleased and proud that we’ve been able to deliver this final piece of key infrastructure without any disruption to train services through Stratford station.”Interim Managing Director, London Underground Richard Parry, said: “This new footbridge is a huge step towards improving access to the Olympic Park and will help to severely reduce congestion around the Stratford Regional station entrances when it opens in 2011.“A lot of work and planning has gone into making sure that this new footbridge was installed without affecting London Underground and Overground services and we are delighted to see that this has paid off and that this important milestone has been reached without a hitch,” he said.