The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) announced today that work to deliver enhanced facilities for Rowing and Canoe Sprint events during the London 2012 Games has been completed on time and on budget. The Rowing, Paralympic Rowing and Canoe Sprint events during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will take place at the Eton College Rowing Centre at Dorney Lake near Windsor. Construction work has now been completed at the venue to provide improved facilities for athlete warm-up and Canoe Sprint events.

The enhancement works include a new 50m bridge at the finish line area, the upgrade of an existing gravel/stone access road within the venue site for use during the Games, and a cut-through and new bridge between the competition lake and return lane of the 2,000m rowing course.

The completion of works makes Eton Dorney the second London 2012 venue to be completed, following the completion in 2008 of enhanced facilities for Sailing events in Weymouth and Portland.

ODA Chief Executive David Higgins said: 'Eton College Rowing Centre is a first-class venue and the enhancements we have now delivered will create the best possible facilities for the world’s best athletes to use in 2012. The completion of another 2012 venue on time and on budget is an important milestone in what is our toughest year in the project.

'With the venues at Eton Dorney and Weymouth & Portland complete and the canoe courses at Broxbourne taking shape, we are making good progress across the project, not just on the Olympic Park in east London.'

Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee said:

Eton Dorney is a well established venue set in the heart of rowing country. These enhancements show our commitment to providing the best possible facilities for athletes at Games time. It is a world-class venue that hosts elite level competition as well as community events, and is a venue of which we can all be proud.

Eton College Rowing Centre Managing Director Ivor Lloyd said: 'Congratulations to the Olympic Delivery Authority on completion of these works.  We are greatly looking forward to providing our world-class facility for use by London 2012 and as a legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games thereafter.'

Pam Alexander, Chair of the South East Partnership for the 2012 Games and Chief Executive of the South East England Development Agency, said: 'The Partnership is working hard to ensure that the South East delivers a sporting, cultural and economic legacy, inspired by the London 2012 Games.

'We are privileged to have Eton Dorney as the venue for the flat water events during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and are delighted that the improvement works are now complete. With the South East hosting the Canoe Sprint and Rowing events, and with one of the two mascots named after Stoke Mandeville, the birthplace of the Paralympic Movement, we are proud to offer so many gateways to the London 2012 Games.'

Construction work on the enhanced facilities at the Eton College Rowing Centre began in September last year, starting with the demolition and removal of the venue’s original finish line bridge and groundworks to widen the entrance to the return lane. The new 50m-span finish line bridge, weighing 250 tonnes, was then lifted into place earlier this year, followed by the construction of a new cut-through and bridge between the competition lake and the return lane, and the upgrade of an existing gravel/stone access road up to the competition venue.

Download the construction of Eton Dorney here