Footbridges for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games – Lessons Learnt

The author presented a paper on the Footbridges for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games at Footbridge 2011 in Wroclaw. At that time the bridge construction was substantially complete. In terms of delivering on time and on budget while satisfying a set of requirements, they were considered a great success. Their performance at the Games could not be judged however, until the crowds of people had arrived and experienced the park during the Games.

Looking back, London 2012 is widely regarded as one of the best Olympic an d Paralympic Games ever held.

This paper examines what contribution the footbridges made to the success of Games. It also considers several lessons learnt during the design and construction of the bridges. These are described for the benefit of future desi gns.