The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has announced that construction work on the new London 2012 White Water Canoe Centre in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, is now underway.

Morrison Construction has been appointed to build the new 10-hectare (24.7-acre) facility, which will host canoe slalom events during the 2012 Games before becoming a canoeing and white-water rafting venue for the local community in legacy mode. Facilities at the venue will include an Olympic-standard, 300m (984.3ft) competition course with a height drop of 5.5m (18ft) between the start pool and finish pool, a 160m (524.9ft) intermediate and training course with a 1.6m (5.2ft) height drop and a 10,000sq m (107,639sq ft) finishing lake.

The new Canoe Centre will also include a facility building and pumping house incorporating a reception, a café, changing rooms, offices and spectator viewing areas. Temporary spectator seating will be installed at the venue for the duration of the Games. Funding for the facility, which is due to be completed in time for testing and training by the end of 2011, has been provided by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA), the East of England Development Agency and Sport England.

ODA chair John Armitt said: "The start of construction work in Broxbourne keeps us on track to deliver a world-class venue for London 2012 and a major leisure attraction after the Games. "With the venue due for completion ahead of 2012, we will deliver an early legacy of first-class new sporting facilities allowing the huge benefits of the Games to be felt in Broxbourne and the East of England region well before the world's best athletes arrive in 2012."

LVRPA chief executive Shaun Dawson added: "The centre will open again shortly after the Games and we're expecting 70,000 visitors per year, most of them taking up the challenge of white water rafting. We'll also be providing canoeing sports development opportunities for clubs, colleges, universities, schools and community groups." A new visitor information point has also been unveiled at the YHA Lee Valley in Cheshunt to provide more information about the Broxbourne scheme.