bloomberg:wembley sewers collapse! Wembley Stadium's Sewers May...

bloomberg:wembley sewers collapse! Wembley Stadium's Sewers May Cause Delay, London Official Says
March 23 (Bloomberg) -- London Wembley Stadium's sewers have collapsed, adding to concerns about construction of the world's most expensive sports ground, a city official said.

``This is a shocking setback,'' said Bob Blackman, a city assembly member representing the Wembley area, in an e-mailed statement today. ``We need to know what on earth is going on.''

A series of disputes with subcontractors and surging costs led builder Multiplex to miss a January deadline for completion of the 757 million-pound ($1.3 billion) stadium. Construction at the north west London site was halted for a day on March 20 after a 50-ton rafter supporting the roof shifted, forcing the evacuation of the site's 3,500 workers.

A subcontractor is surveying the stadium's drainage systems and has plenty of time to make repairs, a Multiplex spokeswoman said today. `We do not believe that the drain and sewage system remedial repairs will have any impact on the completion of the stadium,'' said Fiona McLachlan, a spokeswoman in London for the Sydney-based company. She said she didn't know if the system had collapsed because ``that's an issue for the subcontractor.''

Blackman said the repairs could take up to eight months.

Multiplex cut its profit forecast five times last year because of Wembley. The stadium's owner, England's Football Association, moved a soccer cup championship in May to Cardiff, Wales because of uncertainty about when Wembley would be finished.

RWE AG's Thames Water, which operates the U.K. capital's sewers, has checked its system near the stadium and it's operating normally, said spokeswoman Hilary Bennett. The drains under Wembley may be privately owned, she said