London 2012 construction manager to visit New Zealand

The person responsible for the construction strategy for the London 2012 Olympics is being hosted by The University of Auckland next week.

Ray Payne, head of construction strategy and logistics at the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), is presenting a research seminar at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Mr Payne oversaw the construction of all new venues, infrastructure and utilities on London’s Olympic Park. The NZ$14bn programme, which was to take four-and-a-half years, will be completed six months ahead of time and under budget.

He will discuss how this was achieved, on a restricted site intersected by rail and water with difficult access. He will share new tools and techniques developed by the ODA to ensure the construction programme went smoothly. He will provide an overall impression of the scale and complexity of the construction effort and the support functions which were put in place to provide order and certainty into what would otherwise be chaos and uncertainty.

Ray has had a varied career spanning the UK, other parts of Europe and the Middle East, and among many high profile appointments, has worked in construction and infrastructure management roles for British Rail, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and a number of consultancies. He also has a background in procurement. He joined the ODA in 2005.

The ODA is a public body established to deliver the infrastructure to hold the Games of the thirtieth Olympiad.

Notes to editors:
The seminar is a free industry event to be held on Tuesday 30 March 2010, 6pm to 7pm, Conference Centre, 22 Symonds Street. Media are welcome to attend. Ray Payne is also available to speak to media on request.