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Olympic projects progressing well
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-09-10 00:27 Construction of the National
Stadium and two other venues for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is progressing
smoothly, Vice-Mayor Liu Zhihua of the capital city said Thursday.
He made the remarks in a report to the Standing Committee of the Beijing
Municipal People's Congress -- the capital's legislative body.
Construction of the National Stadium and the National Swimming Centre started
late last year, the first to have started construction for the great event.
Ground was broken in July at the site of the Beijing Shooting Range.
By the end of July, when construction of the National Stadium was suspended,
a total of 1,258 foundation piles have been finished, according to Liu. This
means 57 per cent of the foundation piles have been completed for the Olympic
project.
More than 82,000 cubic metres of earth has been excavated at the site of the
National Stadium, 37 per cent of the total, the vice-mayor said.
As for the National Swimming Centre, 392,000 cubic metres of earth has been
excavated, 98 per cent of the total.
The major part of the swimming centre project has started, Liu said.
Half of the earthwork has been completed at the Beijing Shooting Range, with
41,700 cubic metres of earth excavated.
The design of the Laoshan Velodrome is now being drafted. Construction is
expected to start next month, according to the official.
Liu said Thursday the Beijing organizers are now reconsidering the original
plans for the Olympic venues to save money and use them for post-Games purposes
while maintaining the quality and technological standards set by the
International Olympic Committee and other international sports federations.
The location, scale and design of the projects will be amended. Investment
will be tightly controlled.
"Amendment of the construction plans of all Olympic venues will be completed
in the year, laying the foundations for the overall construction to start next
year," Liu said Thursday.
Work is currently taking place to optimize the design of the National
Stadium, the National Swimming Centre and the Wukesong Basketball Gymnasium.
The layout of the baseball, softball, tennis, badminton and aquatic sports
facilities will be further amended.
The official vowed to upgrade the layout of the Wukesong Cultural and Sports
Centre, and gymnasiums affiliated with Peking University, the Beijing University
of Science and Technology and the China Agricultural University, as soon as
possible.
Meanwhile, amendments to draft designs of the Olympic Forest Park and the
core area of the Olympic Green are also expected to be agreed in the near
future, according to Liu.
"We will try our best to reduce the figure of newly established venues and
expansions in an attempt to hold the Olympic Games in an efficient way," he
said.
Money saved from amending the venue construction plans will be invested in
the construction of infrastructure facilities in Beijing, the vice-mayor said.
And the renovation of villages in urban Beijing will be accelerated, he
added.
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