Multiple TWP postings about Olympic Site Visit

Five students wrote about our visit to the Olympic Park. Instead of picking one, I have included them all here. There is some repetition but I wanted to share all the different write ups.

DYLAN

On August 2^nd our group took a tour of the London 2012 Olympics Site. I got in touch with our guide Christian Bonard through my dad’s work contacts. Christian, who is the Head of Environment and Sustainability Assurance for the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), focused the trip on the sustainability aspect of the site. Being an environmental engineer concerned about the world living in a lower impact way, I loved the focus of the tour.

The first thing I was really impressed with was that sustainability was imbedded in London’s proposal to the Olympics Committee when they were trying to win the bid. Christian talked about how sustainability was the main reason London won the rights to be the site of the 2012 Olympics, and rightfully so. The Olympics Delivery Authority set twelve goals for the duration of the game, and Christian explained the six he was in charge of including biodiversity, waste management, water management, and the carbon footprint of the site. Every building was designed to incorporate recycled materials, some from the demolition of the old buildings that were on the land planned for the Olympic venues. I was really impressed that the contractors surpassed almost every sustainability goal the ODA set for them.

Another aspect of the park I thought was cool was that all of the buildings were built to be temporary unless there was a plan for a long-term use of the building after the games. The athletes village (the housing for the 17,000 athletes) will be turned into 2800 houses including affordable homes after the games. Every other building will be turned into some sort of useful building for the community, moved elsewhere, or kept as a sports venue with fewer seats. I have always been concerned about what happens to the billions of dollars poured into these large events, and I am glad to know all these buildings are not just being torn down. Part of the bid for London also was the revitalize East London and I believe using the buildings after the games end will improve the quality of life there.

I really enjoyed this tour and am glad it worked out, even though there were a few minor problems along the way. It makes me excited to see sustainability in action, and it affirmed my love for all things environment related. Seeing sustainability be the focus of the London 2012 Olympics Site made me realize that I want to get a job in some sort of big picture work involving the environment, not just the technical aspect.

ANDY

Today we visited the site of the 2012 London Olympics. Thanks to Dylan’s dad’s connections we were able to get a tour not offered to the general public. The two biggest issues that they talked about were sustainability and safety.

 The most major goal of the construction of the 2012 Olympic center, and the reason why London won the bid, is sustainability. When they demolished over 200 buildings to build the center, well over 90% of the materials were recycled and used. Hardly anything was sent to landfill. They are also experimenting with new binding agents for concrete and pavement materials so that less and more bio-friendly materials can be used. Finally, they are making the center literally “green”, unlike some past Olympic centers in that they are having a river run through the whole thing, and building a gigantic park around it. This allows for the creation of lots of animal habitats, as well as making for a pleasant atmosphere for people who want to temporarily escape the madness of the stadium.

 The managers of the Olympic center project are also focusing heavily on safe working conditions. At present, the London Olympic stadium is the only one in history that has had no fatalities during its construction. We were told that China, in the last Olympics, lost 43 or more workers. I noticed also that as we walked around the construction zone, on all sorts of things like steps and fences, there were friendly warnings about safety. They weren’t the oppressive doom and gloom variety that we are so familiar with in the United States though. Instead messages simply reminded workers to be safe and have a good day and the like. I thought this was a nice change from what we are used to. It gives people credit for knowing how to do their jobs, but still creates a safe and friendly work environment.

 What I personally found to be the most interesting were our discussions about the various technical challenges involved in the project. The guide mentioned that much of the site was built on an old landfill, so they had to be very careful about what they were building over. They used imaging to figure out what was down there, and once they even found a mild radiation source. Of course there were also all sorts of challenges to deal with in relation to their sustainability and environmental goals. All of the contractors would bid on how well they could do different jobs, and how green they could make it, so there was some real innovation going on there.

 I really enjoyed the exclusive access to see the Olympic site before most people. They are really taking sustainability to a new level, while still creating some pretty stunning structures. The guides were friendly and informative. I was glad to have gotten a unique look at what will be the center stage of the world for a while next year.

EMILY

On August 2^nd, 2011 I completed my last, and possibly my favorite, Tourist with a Purpose: going to the Olympic Stadium. Taking a tour of where the Olympics will be held next year is definitely a memorable experience. I was blown away by the amount of work and effort put into making the whole production come together.

One of the most interesting facts I learned on the Olympic tour was about how London won the bid for the Summer 2012 Olympics. In July of 2005, London won the bid against major cities like Madrid and Paris because of their idea to focus on building a sustainable structure. Everything built for the Olympics in London was required to use about 20% or more recycled materials. Not only are the structures sustainable, but also energy, water, and ecology were all main objectives for London. For the soil alone, 80% of it was retained and reused after clean up. The entire day we spent hearing about how companies would compete against each other to offer the most sustainable structure. People working on site even receive badges if they provide an idea that is especially environmentally friendly. Learning all about the way London saves money, energy, and water to help the environment was very inspirational. One building, the Velodrome, even has a built in natural air conditioner to cool the building. This building alone cuts back significantly on energy use. London is proving their place in the world and stepping up their game. They will be a hard act to follow because of their very eco-friendly set up.

Another fascinating piece of information about the Olympic site was the amount of work that goes into this event. London has been working six years on getting ready for the Olympics. They have cleared and cleaned the facility, reused almost everything they destroyed, and then built again. For sustainability reasons, barges or train brought almost all of the materials onto the site. Contractors even had to widen the river, overturn millions of square kilometers of soil, and essentially create an entirely new city. I was amazed at the effort and the budget of the project. The Olympic budget is about 9.3 billion pounds! Imagine how much can be done with that amount of money.

After visiting the Olympic site, I cannot wait to watch the Olympics. Seeing the effort going into this game is quite admirable. I especially liked hearing about how this Olympic site is environmentally friendly. Hopefully this production will inspire other developers to keep the environment in mind when building and reconstructing land.

SPENCER

First off, I can now officially say that I have been to the Olympics. Dylan arranged a tour of the Olympic site through his father’s connections with the contractors working on the site. I had no idea what to expect but when we arrived I started to understand how good a deal this was. When we got there we had to go through security and because of some miscommunication none of us had our passports, which apparently we needed because they do not accept US driver’s licenses. We managed to slip through with the help of our guide and they eventually let us in.

The first stop was the Olympic Stadium. I figured we would just be driving around in a bus snapping off some generic touristy pictures the whole time, but when they told us we were getting out and going in I got very excited for the rest of the tour. The scale of everything there is just massive and it kind of highlights the importance of the Olympics as a whole. It was very cool to be inside the stadium that 4 billion people will be watching come Summer 2012.

Every single structure was designed with the environment and sustainability in mind. A big reason that London won the bid for the 2012 Olympics was due to their efforts to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Much of the materials used to build the facilities were either recycled or from the actual buildings that were demolished from the sight before construction. There were approximately 200 factories and structures that had been condemned and simply sat around contaminating the ground. They tore everything down and cleaned the dirt, 70% of which had been contaminated. The buildings were designed to be of maximum efficiency and still were all very beautiful. The efforts they underwent there serve to highlight the capabilities of engineering and architecture today. We can make a functioning building that is environmentally friendly and still have it be architecturally beautiful. It just takes the cooperation of several different groups who all have the same sustainability objective. The site visit was an awesome glimpse into the Olympics and I’m sure it will be even more beautiful when they actually come around. I wish I would be able to go next Summer, but I think I can just settle for watching it on TV.

MORGAN

I will probably be the 8^th person to write this exact same TWP, but it’s OK because this was one of the most awesome places any of us has ever visited. This past week the entire class took a tour of the 2012 London Olympic Park. Thanks to Dylan’s dad, who works in Virginia at one of the companies who are in charge of making sure the Olympic Park is built sustainable, we were able to take a VIP tour of the Park. I loved this site visit because the Olympics are my favorite thing to watch and I’m studying environmental engineering where sustainability is a big deal.

On the tour we had the opportunity to actually walk into the Olympic Stadium where the opening ceremony will be taking place and where the soccer and track events will take place. To be able to stand where in just a year hundreds of World famous athletes will be standing was just mind blowing. Not only was this sentimentally awesome but the architecture and design of the stadium was also amazing. The design of the stadium had lots of different angles worked into the framework. These angles replicate the angles that are in the 2012 Olympics logo. The chairs in the stadium were color coordinated to also incorporate the same angles. I can’t wait until the Olympics start next year and be able to tell my friends and family that I stood in the Olympic Stadium. We did not get the opportunity to go inside any of the other buildings, but we saw the outsides of the aquatics building, the basketball arena, the Velodrome, and the athlete’s village.

During the tour we learned about how sustainable the Park is being built. Each of the buildings are being contracted out by different companies but each company must meet the sustainable requirements. Then entire Olympic Park has many goals in having the buildings made out of a certain percent of recycle material or only having a small percent of the waste going to land fields versus being reused.  Many of the buildings are made out of light weight removable material, so when the Olympics are over the buildings can be removed or can stay if needed. Learning how to make such big structures in a sustainable way was my most exciting part of the tour. Being an environmental engineer I was thrilled the learn that there are some really cool jobs where you can take your environmental engineering skills and make something extraordinary out of it. I cannot wait until we get to watch the London 2012 Olympics next year.

TWP: Mercedes-Benz Museum

Andy went to Germany last weekend to visit his relatives. Here is his write-up of the Mercedes-Benz Museum:

One of the most obviously engineering specific locations I visited during my time in Germany was the Mercedes-Benz museum. The building itself is an impressive structure on the scale of the types of projects Ramboll is working on. It opened in 2005 so it’s fairly new, and I was told that construction of the building itself was only possible with modern computer models and testing. Of course the building wasn’t the reason why I visited though; it was the cars.

 The collection of vehicles at the museum can be described as nothing less than massive. Hundreds of vehicles on at least 4 or 5 floors (it’s difficult to tell because the museum spirals from top to bottom). You first take a very sci-fi looking elevator to the top floor where the oldest vehicles in the collection sit. Many are replicas because the originals no longer exist, but it was nonetheless very interesting to see the origins of the European car industry.  They did have the oldest surviving Mercedes on display, and I believe it was near a hundred years old. As you walk the spiral ramp from each level down to the next, minor exhibits line the wall with current events from the transitional time period to give you context as to the era of the vehicles. My favorite cars across the various floors were the limited editions and the prototypes since I had never seen most of them before. One such car was designed for a race that got canceled, and then was driven instead by an executive in the company. There was also a collection of one off prototypes and F1 race cars. I thought it was pretty awesome experiences because the museum is one of the only places you could ever see them in person.

Finally I have to comment on the simulator that I experienced at the museum. After a couple of bad experiences at the science museum here in London, I had low expectations for the experience, but it was actually quite good. Instead of animated footage, they used actually footage taken from the cockpit of various Mercedes F1 cars, and added the motion of the simulator. Between the motion of the simulator, and the turning of the fake steering wheel, you could almost imagine being in the F1 race. The footage makes you realize how much skill it takes to participate in one of those races. The cars are blisteringly fast, and turns come every second or two. My brain could hardly process the imagery coming at it, so I have a renewed respect for F1 drivers.

I can’t possibly write about all of the awesome cars at the museum, but I hope this gives potential visitors a reason to make it a planned destination. Anyone with the slightest interest in cars should definitely visit. You can even buy a Merc at the lot next door if you feel so inclined.

TWP: The London Eye

Instead of writing about our trip to the London Eye, I will let Andy's TWP describe our experience:

As an engineer, I cannot help but write about my experience at the London Eye. It is a huge technical achievement to have built it is tall as they did. One of the things I find so interesting about it, is that as huge as it is, and as expensive as it was to build, it was originally only designed to be a temporary attraction. After all the engineering that went into it, the original plan was tear it down. However of course, most people know that it has become incredibly popular. So much so, that instead of tearing it down, they decided to make it a permanent London attraction, and today it is one of the city’s most famous attractions.

Of course, what impacted me the most about the London Eye was the actual view of London from the top of it. The city looks truly stunning spread about before you unobstructed by little more than an inch or two of glass. I could see all of the various places I had already been we were so high up. Even Big Ben seemed small compared to the scale of the London Eye.

Finally I felt I was able to appreciate the London Eye not only as a tourist, but also as an engineer. After our site visit to Ramboll, I have a greater appreciation for not only the difficulties of building massive structures like the London Eye, but also challenges of building in London at all. I don’t know the actual specs, but I do know that the London Eye is one of the tallest structures in London, and it is built right next to the Thames. That gave the engineers a whole other set of problems to solve with the tidal forces that affect the area, and the general instability of riverside ground. I noticed the massive supports pulling the Eye towards the land, and thought about some engineer somewhere had to go through the process of rolling all of the building challenges into a single set of numbers, to know what the tolerances needed to be and how big that support needed to be. Although I’m a computer engineer, and not a civil or mechanical engineer, I definitely had to respect the challenges that I’m sure the London Eye presented to its designers.

Overall, I’m really glad we were able to visit the London Eye as part of our study abroad experience. It’s a great example of civil/mechanical engineering that resulted in a fantastic viewing experience for everyone who has visited it.

TWP:Churchill Arms

Andy's TWP write up of an unusual pub:

The Churchill Arms is a traditional English pub on Churchill Street, with little more than some ornate flower arrangements and a barely visible sign to declare its presence. When you enter, you’re greeted by several friendly waitresses and…  a Thai menu. In the back of the pub is one of the most fantastic Thai restaurants you will ever visit. Each meal is only 7.5 pounds, a relative steal in south Kensington, and you get as yelp puts it, an “American-sized” portion. As an individual entirely uninitiated on the delights of Thai food, when I received my meal and took my first taste, I immediately discovered a new nationality of food to make a habit. However the biggest shock of the experience came a few minutes into the meal. As I ate my meal I looked up and noticed one of the blue signs mentioned on our bus tour as government issued historical declarations. To my surprise, the sign indicated that Winston Churchill, one of the most influential Englishmen in history, had given his wartime speeches to the nation in the very room I was eating from 40-45. This combination of fantastic history, and frankly, the general oddity of the establishment made this a place I simply must write about.

 As I began to think about what experiences of the first week I wanted to write about, I was determined not to write about a pub, until I visited the Churchill Arms. The oddity of a fantastic Thai restaurant sitting in the back of a seemingly traditional English pub just hit me as a perfect example of the great diverse nature of the people in London. All of this was then followed up by a realization of the historical significance of the room in which I was sitting. I am humbled by the influence that Sir Winston Churchill had on not only England, but history as a whole. To have a casual lunch in the room in which he gave some of the nation’s most serious and grave speeches was just an example to me of the amount of history sitting in every corner of London.