Images are released by Everton FC showing the first of four tower cranes now installed on the site of its £500m stadium project at Bramley-Moore Dock. Tony McDonough reports
Everton FC says the first of four tower cranes is now installed at the site of its £500m new stadium build.
A 60-metre high tower crane has arrived at Bramley-Moore Dock in Liverpool Waters. It will be operational on the north east corner of the waterfront site on Monday. Eventually, four tower cranes will be visible on the skyline.
Contractor Laing O’Rourke will install the remaining three cranes in the next three weeks. They will occupy the north west, south west and south east corners of the site. The cranes’ first job will be to help pull together the steel structure. This will form the shell of the 52,888 capacity stadium.
All four concrete corners of the stadium are now at full height, minus the roof structure. And the northern corners will soon be connected by the emerging steelworks. Workers will soon begin installing the steelwork at the southern end of the site.
Laing O’Rourke and Everton are building the arena in a 12-phase project. On Friday the club claimed it is the largest single-site private sector development in the country. The build will take 150 weeks. The Blues could kick off the 2024-25 season at the new ground.
In April, Everton struck what was seen as a remarkable deal with Laing O’Rourke. The builder has agreed to complete the project while providing Everton with greater certainty as to the cost. This is despite the price of raw materials and labour continuing to rise.
In late May Laing O’Rourke reached a major milestone when the first super-columns of steelwork were installed. Steve Farden, structural principal engineer, said: “It is a huge milestone for the project.
“I’ve been working on the project for two years and a lot of detailed planning has gone into preparing for the first steelwork column to go into the north west stand.
“It signifies the start of the construction of the structural steel frame, which in turn will enable us to commence the concourse works for the north stand. Within three weeks, the steelwork will be up to level two and connected to the concrete core in the corner.
“This then means we can start readying for the fit-out phase and working towards opening parts of the stand for fit-out and commissioning.”