2012 Olympic Stadium lights up

New aerial images from the London 2012 Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) show the Olympic Stadium's lighting towers have all been lifted into place 60 m above the field of play, taking the flagship venue to its full height.

A total of 14 lighting towers, each weighing 34 tonnes and designed with integrated walkways, access, power supplies and cabling and lighting, were lifted into place over three weeks.

The cable net roof will now start to be covered with a fabric material, providing the correct conditions for athletes on the field of play and covering two-thirds of spectators.

ODA Chairman John Armitt said: "The successful lift of the lighting towers takes the Olympic Stadium to its full height and makes it even more visible across east London's skyline.

"We still have big challenges over the coming year but hitting this important milestone ensures we remain on track to complete construction a year before the London 2012 Games begin."

The lighting towers, which will illuminate the action on the field of play and are necessary for high definition television footage, are located high above the Stadium roof to ensure optimum lighting angles which avoid dazzling spectators, photographers and competitors.

Each tower can house up to 44 floodlights and a team of electricians installed and tested each light on the ground before the towers were lifted 60 m on to the inner tension ring of the roof structure.

Over the coming months, the power supply and control cables will be installed and a series of tests will be carried out to ensure that every individual bulb is position correctly.

Stadium facts and figures

• 80000 seats in Games mode. Flexible design allows venue to be scaled back to 25000 seats in legacy
• The Stadium will host the athletics events and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies during the London 2012 Games
• 33 buildings had to be demolished and over 800000 tonnes of soil was taken away to help create the construction platform for the Olympic Stadium.
• The total Stadium site covers an area of 16.2 ha
• The Stadium has a total floor area of 108500m2 in Games time
• At 53 m above ground level, the Olympic Stadium is taller than Nelson's Column (50 m)
• The Stadium will contain around 10000 tonnes of steel - it will be the lightest Olympic Stadium constructed to date
• Over 4500 reinforced concrete columns were installed to act as the foundations
• The Stadium is surrounded by water on three sides, so five new bridges and their abutments are now in place, connecting the Stadium island to the rest of the Park
• There will be around 700 rooms and spaces within the Stadium, including changing rooms and toilets.