Construction underway on London 2012 canoe slalom venue as ODA completes latest milestones

Broxbourne venue will deliver early legacy of world-class facilities

The Broxbourne venue is due for completion ahead of 2012, delivering an early legacy of community use and training facilities for people of all abilities before the Games begin. 

The start of construction work on the Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre means the ODA has now delivered all of ‘the big build: foundations’ milestones it set out last summer. A new document was released today outlining how the ODA has met all, and exceeded some, of the ten milestones set last summer – the document can be viewed atwww.london2012.com/documents/oda-publications/big-build-foundations-delivered.pdf.

The White Water Canoe Centre in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire will host the canoe slalom events during the Olympic Games. After the Games, the venue will be developed to become a sporting and leisure facility for canoeing and white-water rafting, as well as a major competition and training venue for elite events. The Centre will be owned, funded and managed by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, who own the site. The venue will feature an intermediate course alongside the Olympic course, allowing the Centre to create an inclusive and comprehensive sports development programme in legacy from novice paddler through to elite competitors. 

The White Water Canoe Centre is being built in Broxbourne on part of the River Lee Country Park, close to Waltham Cross station. The construction site was visited today by Team GB Canoeist Laura Blakeman who won Gold at the recent European Canoe Slalom Championships. 

Team GB Canoeist Laura Blakeman said: 'It has been a huge honour to represent Great Britain in competitions across the world so it’s great to see the start of work on this new canoeing venue where I hope to compete on home soil in 2012. It was having local canoeing facilities that helped me in the early stages of my career so I’m delighted that after the excitement of the Games in 2012 this new venue will leave a lasting sporting legacy for a new generation of canoeists of all ages and abilities.'

ODA Chairman John Armitt said: 'Completing all of our milestones over the past year is a significant achievement and the start of work at Broxbourne shows we are hitting our targets not just on the Olympic Park but across the London 2012 project. We are making good progress but there will continue to be tough challenges ahead and we are not complacent.

'The start of construction work in Broxbourne keeps us on track to deliver a world-class venue for London 2012 and a major leisure attraction after the Games. With the venue due for completion ahead of 2012, we will deliver an early legacy of first-class new sporting facilities allowing the huge benefits of the Games to be felt in Broxbourne and the East of England region well before the world’s best athletes arrive in 2012.'

Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee, said: 'This is an important stage in the delivery of a facility that will provide a world-class venue for Games-time and an excellent facility for elite athlete and community usage after the Games, living up to our promise of leaving a lasting legacy for sport. I look forward to seeing the construction of Broxbourne take shape as we develop a challenging Olympic course and a community facility which will provide a new experience for beginners.'

Shaun Dawson, Chief Executive of Lee Valley Regional Park Authority said:
'This excellent venue, which will actually be open before the Games, will be used by a wide range of people from elite canoeists to people who’ve never paddled before. The Centre will open again shortly after the Games and we’re expecting 70,000 visitors per year, most of them taking up the challenge of white water rafting. We’ll also be providing canoeing sports development opportunities for clubs, colleges, universities, schools and community groups.'

'To keep everyone informed we’ve worked with our partners to open a fantastic information point all about the venue and what we’ll be providing to the public at the nearby YHA Lee Valley. Anyone is welcome to visit us there to find out more.'

Charles Walker MP said: 'I am delighted that things are moving forward - this is great news for Waltham Cross and the Borough of Broxbourne.'

Karen Livingstone Board Member of the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) said: 'EEDA has worked hard with partners to secure a lasting legacy from the Broxbourne site. Our role is ensuring a planned approach to investments, in line with agreed regional priorities. The White Water Canoe Centre and the Olympic Games will showcase Broxbourne and our investment has secured a significantly enhanced project. It will be a major boost for local people and businesses and it will deliver economic and social benefits, for years to come.'

Richard Lewis, Chair of Sport England, said: 'With construction getting underway now, community paddlers can look forward to experiencing the thrills of this London 2012 venue before the Olympic athletes take to the water. Our investment of National Lottery funding will help ensure the centre delivers a lasting legacy of high quality sporting opportunities from beginner to elite level.'

Paul Owen, Chief Executive of the British Canoe Union, said: 'Today is a major step towards boasting a fantastic venue for our British canoe slalom athletes as they prepare for the London 2012 Olympic Games, it will also provide plenty of opportunities for people in the surrounding area and the UK to try what is the UK’s most popular watersport, for fun or competition. In addition, the facility will offer immense economic benefits to the local and surrounding areas. This day is certainly very exciting for canoeing and the region.'

A new visitor information point was also opened today at the YHA Lee Valley, next to Cheshunt Railway Station where visitors can find more information about the Broxbourne project. The White Water Canoe Centre is being built on a 10 hectare site, covering an area the equivalent of 25 full-size football pitches. The venue will include:

An Olympic standard 300m competition course

• Water has a height drop of up to 5.5m from the start pool to finish pool
• Up to 15 cubic metres (3,300 gallons) of water per second is recirculated through the Olympic course - enough water to fill a 25m swimming pool in 30 seconds
• The water speed through the course will be in excess of 7mph in places
• The water will be recirculated through the Olympic course by four pumps each weighing 5 tonnes
• A boat conveyor to transport participants to the course start in their rafts or canoes

A 160m intermediate/training course 

• Water has a 1.6m drop from the start pool to finish pool
• 10.5 cubic metres (2,310 gallons) of water per second is recirculated through the intermediate course - enough water to fill a 25m swimming pool in 46 seconds

Finish Lake

• Finish lake area of 10,000m2 (1 hectare / 2.5 acres)

A facility building and pumping house

• Containing a reception, café, changing rooms, admin offices, spectator viewing facilities, storage, and water pump/filtration plant

Landscaping works 

• With path and bridge networks throughout the venue to facilitate spectator viewing and access
• Around 240,000 tonnes of material will be imported to help create the venue landscape

Land formation works are now underway on the Broxbourne site involving the placement and compaction of fill material to form the canoe course embankments and the landscaped features of the venue. The land formation works will be completed by the Autumn when work will then start to create the foundations of the Olympic starting pool and the venue facility building. The construction of the White Water Canoe Centre is due to be completed for Games training and testing in 2010-11 with some public use in 2011. 

During the Games, temporary seating will be installed around the venue for spectators. After the Games, the spectator seating will be removed, and the venue will be developed into the Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre, creating a major leisure attraction for canoeing and white water rafting as well as a venue for future international competition.

Notes to Editors:

1.    Construction and design images of the Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre can be downloaded from http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?nav=pr125830541 

2.    The construction contract for the Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre was awarded to Morrison Construction in March

3.    The construction of the Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre includes funding from Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and Sport England.

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For further information please contact the Olympic Delivery Authority Press Office on +44 (0)20 3 2012 700.

The construction of the venues and infrastructure of the London 2012 Games is funded by the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor, The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Mayor of London and the London Development Agency.