Canoe slalom contract award for Dean and Dyball
Cardiff Council, in partnership with the Welsh Assembly Government, has awarded a £12.3M contract to Dean and Dyball for the design and construction of a 250 metre long, olympic-standard canoe slalom and white water rafting centre at Cardiff International Sports Village.
The project, which will be carried out by Dean and Dyball’s Swansea office, is expected to start on site in August and will be ready for use in early 2010. The facility will be constructed from concrete with plastic barriers that can be moved around to create a variety of courses suiting a range of standards and competencies.
Works will comprise construction of a cofferdam to impound a controlled area of water for use in the canoe slalom course and associated activities such as water polo, a canoe conveyor, reinforced concrete channel works and associated pumping chambers and an administration building.
The design is by French company, HydroStadium, who were responsible for similar courses built for the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Dean and Dyball’s design partners in this design and construct project are Hyder Consulting, based in St Mellons, Cardiff. Architectural design is by S&P Architects. Hyder is responsible for all structural and M&E design of the facility excluding the hydraulic design of the course itself, which remains the responsibility of the client’s specialist design consultant Hydrostadium.
The new centre will provide Wales with the UK’s first olympic-standard pumped water canoe slalom course, offering canoeing and white water rafting facilities ranging from recreational to full international and Olympic competition use.
Opening in early 2010, the centre of excellence will be ready well in advance of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which it is hoped will lead to it playing a key role in the run up to and during the 2012 games.
The canoe slalom will be part of Cardiff International Sports Village in Cardiff Bay, a major part of a continuing regeneration strategy to transform a former brown field industrial site into an international destination.
The facility will complement activities already taking place in the 200 hectare lake created by the Cardiff Bay Barrage, which include sailing, rowing and water skiing.