The Olympic Park slide is set to open next week as the final pieces have now been put in place on the slide at the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower.

The construction firm, Mace, says the 178 metre long and 76 metre high tunnel slide at the landmark is now ready for business, with the aim of helping to recoup costs and generating more revenue for the site.

The ArcelorMittal Orbit slide is set to open for rides on June 24, 2016, with tickets now on sale for £10 a go for 40 seconds of fun.

The new attraction is built from 30 stainless steel tube sections, each of which are 800mm in diameter by 3mm of thickness.

A specialist team of abseilers lifted the five and nine metre sections into place by using pulleys and ropes that were designed specifically for the completion of the project.

Carsten Holler, a German-Belgian artist, designed the slide which incorporates 12 twists and turns, with one tight section nicknames the ‘bettfedder’ – which is so called after the German word for bedspring, and ends with a 50 metre straight run down to the floor.

The concept was initially designed to have the slide wrapped fully around the tower but this was refused due to the detrimental structural impact of the design, so the slide now squiggles down just one side of the tower.

Mace supervised the construction, and Derry Power, the firm’s project manager, said that the iconic project will give visitors to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the local community a new fun attraction to enjoy.

He added that the slide is the result of a fantastic collaboration between specialist contractors, project managers, engineers, designers and artists.

Mr Power also commented that all involved in the project put in lots of extra work to ensure the design was spot on, before developing and installing the slide which will be a symbol of the park’s lasting legacy for many years.