Olympic stadium rises from the dirt

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In the past three months, workers and diggers have been doing 12-hour shifts to create the foundations. Now the first curve of the terraces that will seat 80,000 spectators is beginning to take shape.

More than 145 columns, each about five metres high, have been sunk into the soil. Eight cranes tower over the site, laying large diagonal sections that have zig-zag shaped indentations.

These diagonal sections will support 12,000 horizontal blocks - each weighing 10 tonnes - into which the seats will be slotted.

The blocks have been pre-cast and will be delivered in lorries from factories in Lincolnshire and Somerset.

The Olympic Development Authority's stadium project sponsor, Ian Crockford, said: "The Stadium has been designed to be different, with the legacy ambitions driving how we construct the venue.

"The team is rising to the challenge and work is progressing on the ground at an impressive rate." The completed structure will take up an area the size of four football pitches. Construction started in May - three months earlier than originally planned - after 33 buildings were demolished.

The first stage saw the removal of 800,000 tonnes of soil - enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall nine times over. Some 1,300 cubic metres of concrete have been used to create a flat expanse that will eventually form the entrance to the stadium from street level.

A spokesman said: "The total stadium island site will cover five times the size of the Houses of Parliament.

"It will be highly sustainable, containing around 10,000 tonnes of steel - the lightest Olympic stadium to date. When it is finished it will stand 53m high - taller than Nelson's Column."