The document summarizes the design of a new potable water network for the 2012 Olympic Park site in Stratford, London. Atkins was commissioned to design the network to serve the Games and future development. The design included a ring main configuration to ensure redundancy, with connections to venues and other developments. Pipe material and jointing methods were selected to meet standards for the contaminated site. Hydraulic modeling was used to test scenarios and ensure fire flow demands could be met. The design received approvals and the network was successfully delivered for the 2012 Olympics.

1. Background
In 2007 Atkins was appointed by the 2012
Olympic Development Agency (ODA) and
their Delivery Partner (CLM) to design the
new potable water network serving the 2012
Games and the ongoing legacy development
of the Olympic Park.
The Olympic Park site was a large Brownfield
site in Stratford, east London (right), previ-
ously used for light engineering and commer-
cial use and with a history of industrial use
dating back to the 1600’s.
The site was compulsorily purchased in 2007,
existing businesses relocated and all local
services removed- overhead HV cables were
routed underground and the site underwent
an extensive programme of remediation and
enabling works to allow a completely new
multi-utility network to be created.
The new potable water network was crucial
to the overall utility construction programme
as the water mains were generally the deep-
est of the services in the new multi-utility
service corridors that were created across the
park.
Design Brief
The basic design brief was unusual in that the
client wanted a design that could be operated
by a third party under an Inset Agreement, a
provision of the 1991 Water Act which allows
third parties to own and operate networks
within the geographical area of the host util-
ity, in this case Thames Water.
This in turn has major implications for the
design, since resilience is more critical. A
feature of this type of network is that it is
linked to the host network by relatively few
connections, to simplify the supply and billing
of water from the host utility.
Network Model
The design was based on a network model
which enabled us to test a variety of ring
main configurations and pipe diameters.
The main
venues had
specific de-
mand re-
quirements
and it was
necessary to
demonstrate
that fire de-
mands could
be met under various emergency scenarios.
The basic network design was based on a ring
main around the Park with connections to the
Athlete’s Village and Westfield developments
and with two metered connections to the
Thames Water host network.
Water Demand
An unusual feature of the design was that
predicted water demand was the reverse of
the normal case: peak demand would be for a
Case Study
2012 Olympic Park Development
New Potable Water Network Design

2. short period during the 2012 Games but
would then drop to a very low level, increas-
ing gradually to the long term predicted value
as legacy development moved forward.
The Adoptable Standard
A basic requirement of the design was
that it should comply with the ‘adoptable
standard’, ie it should comply with all
Thames Water standards, and to this end
regular design review meetings were
organised and managed by Atkins.
These meetings created a formal envi-
ronment in which design issues could be
highlighted well in advance and solutions
agreed such that the main development
programme did not get delayed.
Pipe Material & Jointing
The Olympic Park site had a long history
of industrial use and the site was classi-
fied by Thames Water as ‘contaminated’;
for this reason PE pipe could not be used
under the current WRAS guidelines. A
number of pipe materials were evaluated
and ductile iron was selected for the
main network, though PE was used for
bridge crossings. The network used an-
chor gaskets throughout primarily to
avoid concrete thrust blocks in the multi-
utility service corridors, where space was
at a premium.
Delivery Flow and Pressure
The network model used basic data on
the likely operating pressures that would
be experienced at the two proposed
points of connection, provided by
Thames Water under worst case condi-
tions.
Resilience
System resilience was a key issue in the
network design– the network had to be
supported under all conditions from one
of two main metered connections to the
Thames Water network. Specific fire de-
mand conditions at the venues were
required and separate design approval
was obtained from the London Fire Bri-
gade. All key conditions were built in to
the hydraulic model and a number of key
main break scenarios tested—the basic
ring-main concept allowed dual supply to
all parts of the network in such an event.
Bridge Designs
A major feature of the Olympic Park was
the number of bridges crossing the vari-
ous waterways which gave the Park its
unique appearance. The bridges also
presented challenging design problems
in housing a wide variety of utilities,
which included insulated steel heating
and cooling pipework, electrical cables,
comms cables and the 600mm potable
water ring main housed in a steel sleeve.
(see below)
Bridge F06 was the showpiece bridge on
the Park, and featured twin spans set at
an angle (above), presenting major de-
sign challenges in accommodating multi-
ple utilities in a confined space, yet pro-
viding adequate access for maintenance
and repair.
Design Approval
The Atkins design received formal ap-
proval as conforming to the Adoptable
Standard in November 2007; similar for-
mal approval was also obtained from the
London Fire Brigade in 2008.
Tender Evaluation
The approved design was offered for
tender and Atkins evaluated the tender
documents received. The D&B contract
was awarded to the multi-utility contrac-
tor McNicholas and Atkins worked
closely with their designer (Hyder) and
Thames Water to finalise construction
design and develop a detailed Commis-
sioning Plan to meet Thames’ require-
ments
Own and Operate
Evaluation
A number of Own and Operate compa-
nies expressed an interest in operating
the potable and foul networks under an
inset agreement– the bids were evalu-
ated and Atkins advised the ODA on the
way ahead.
The design was reviewed by the O&O
bidders and since it had been approved
by Thames Water as compliant with the
Adoptable Standard, this review was
confirmed quickly.
The ODA decided that the best long-
term solution would be for Thames Wa-
ter to adopt the network.
Atkins role in this high-profile project
included design, consultancy and sup-
port to the ODA in creating a fully func-
tional approved and commissioned po-
table water network for the 2012
Games.
A key role was in enabling, facilitating
and resolving issues with Thames Water
such that a very complex process was
carried out with minimal delay and dis-
ruption to the overall Park development
programme. Atkins provided that key
expertise to ensure a highly successful
outcome.