£77m Sandwell College on target for opening

Work on the structure of the new £77 million Sandwell College building in West Bromwich is almost complete after two years, with the building on course to open to 10,000 students at the start of next year.

Erecting the superstructure is now done, with workers turning their attention to the glazed roof of the building, which is being constructed on the corner of Spon Lane.

The 350-ton blue tower crane used to erect the framework has now been removed as the glass starts to be put in.

Project manager Mark Green said: "Now that the main tower crane has been removed from site, we can start work on the glazed atrium roof."

The huge operation to dismantle the crane started at 2am on Saturday and was completed on Sunday. Since then scaffolding has gone up so windows can go in.

Despite delays caused by high winds and winter, work on the building in Spon Lane is expected to be completed on schedule in November. The first students are due next January.

The state-of-the-art campus will cater for 10,000 students and will replace the existing campuses in West Bromwich, Oldbury and Smethwick.

For the latest view of the building work, watch the live webcam feed which is available at the website: http://skycam.sandwell.ac.uk

Councillor Ian Jones, Sandwell Council's jobs and economy chief, said: "It will fit in well with The Public and surrounding areas of regeneration including the police station and new offices at All Saints."

He added the economy will be given a boost from thousands of students using the college and socialising.