The stadium was completed at the end of March and the costs to build it were less than originally expected. The stadium took nearly three years to be built. The stadium currently seats 80,000 guests but after the Olympics they plan on breaking it down to only 25,000 seats. The U.K. newspaper the Telegraph reported on March 29 that the cost of the stadium was approximately U.S.$779 million.
The reasoning to dismantle the facility after the games is to reduce the environmental impact and because it is to big for other events. The stadium is the lightest Olympic stadium ever, it only used 10,700 metric tons of steel. In comparison to Beijing use of 110,00 metric tons. They designers made sure to keep it light because they have had the expectation that it is going to be taken apart. Instead of welded connections, the connections are bolted. With this type of construction, the building was not able to include dining and has added special podlike structures for the games to accommodate guests. They have also added extra building on the outside for this. The different bridges on the outside function for different people. Some are for public access while the others are only for athletes.
Source: Civil Engineering. American Society of Civil Engineers. Robert L. Reid. May 2011.
