Eiffel and Hochtief pull out of tendering process, leaving Balfour Beatty to tender on its own

Balfour Beatty is the only contractor left in the competition to build the 2010 Olympic aquatics centre after its two rivals dropped out.

The Olympic Delivery Authority said Eiffel had withdrawn from the tender process after failing to agree terms.

The only other contender, Hochtief, said it was unable to commit to the project after taking on new work abroad.

Howard Shiplee, ODA director of construction, said: 鈥淲e remain confident that we will appoint a world class construction company and are looking forward to receiving a tender from Balfour Beatty.

鈥淐learly we have a challenging timetable, but across the piece we are making very good progress on procurement.鈥�

Balfour Beatty said it remained fully committed to the tender process.

Construction of the centre, which is designed by Zaha Hadid and will mark the entrance to the Olympic Park from Stratford, is expected to start in 2008.

Topics