The Icon

• The new Wembley Stadium will be a landmark for London and one that will have a dramatic effect on the London skyline, with the Stadium’s iconic Arch being visible across the City.  When lit on a clear evening, the Arch will be seen from Canary Wharf – 13 miles away
• The Arch will be 133m at its highest point – this is over four times the height of Wembley Stadium’s original Twin Towers. To put this in perspective, the London Eye could be rolled underneath the Arch.

The Dimensions

• Weighing in at a mighty 1,750 tonnes, the Arch weighs the equivalent of 275 double decker buses or ten Jumbo Jets.
• At seven metres in diameter, the Arch is wide enough for a Channel Tunnel train to run through.
• With a span of 315 metres, the Arch will be the longest single span roof structure in the world – the length of three football pitches.
• The tips of the Arch, known as ‘pencil ends’, are 18 million times as heavy as an average pencil.
• The Arch is made up of 500 steel tubes, referred to as ‘straws’.  The ‘straws’, each large enough to hold over 850 pints of milk, form 13 modules each 20.5 metres in length. These are attached to giant 70-ton hinges using the two ‘pencil end’ sections.  

The Construction

• Pre-fabrication of the Arch was undertaken by Cleveland Bridge UK in Darlington and the surrounding area, and then transported down to Wembley for it to be joined together.
• The Arch is made of British steel, supplied by Corus.
• Over 200 people, both on and off site, have worked on the fabrication and assembly of the Arch – a representative from every county of England has been involved.

The Lifting

• The total pulling force that the Arch jacks are capable of lifting is 12,000 tonnes – this is the equivalent pulling strength of a fleet of 6000 four-wheel drive vehicles.
• The collective length of the cables used to lift the Arch into place would stretch from the centre of London to the White Cliffs of Dover (130km).
• The London Eye used one turning strut to lift it into place – the Arch will use five.

The Maintenance

• The amount of paint needed to coat the Arch is enough to cover the ceiling of the Cistine Chapel more than 19 times.
• An access cart can be driven through the inside of the Arch to allow routine inspections and maintenance to be carried out.
• The apex of the Arch is fitted with a special beacon acting as a warning to low flying airplanes.  Wembley is the only stadium in the world to have such a beacon.
  

To find out more about Wembley Facts & Figures click here.