Denise Barrett-Baxendale has provided Everton supporters with an 'exciting' Bramley-Moore Dock update as the club heads towards its 'next big milestone' in the project.
Everton’s new home on Liverpool’s north docks is the largest single site development under construction in the UK. The skeleton of the stadium is now clearly visible as the steelwork on the North and South stands are erected.
The construction is now onto the third level in the west (main) stand. Concrete raker beams now span the two lower tiers of the stand, which will eventually be home to a variety of function rooms, along with the dressing rooms and players’ tunnel.
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And speaking ahead of Everton’s win over Crystal Palace at the weekend, Barrett-Baxendale revealed the final preparations are being made to the roof truss assemblies in the middle of the bowl, ahead of a first lift in the coming weeks.
“Preparations are continuing, meanwhile, ahead of the next big milestone in the construction of our Everton Stadium,” she wrote in the matchday programme.
“The giant roof trusses are being prepared on the pitch space, ahead of the first installation in the coming fortnight.
“These giant steel structures can be seen in our latest stadium update, which shows the constant changes taking place at Bramley-Moore Dock.
“Beneath that, the forest of scaffolding that spanned the ground floor several weeks ago has now been removed, revealing the expanse of space within.
“It truly is an exciting time in the history of our Football Club and we hope to match that progress off the pitch with our performances on it – beginning with today’s encounter with Palace.”
Everton have also revealed plans to ensure their new Bramley-Moore Dock ground will highlight a respectful nod to the past.
More than 400 heritage assets, many dating back to the dock’s heyday around 150 years ago, have been recorded and tagged, with many of them being restored before being incorporated back into the footprint of the stadium site.
These historic items, many of which were instrumental to world trade via maritime connectivity, include ancient railway tracks used to transport coal off-site, in addition to cobblestones, capstans and mooring bollards, alongside Grade II-listed structures including the dock retaining walls, boundary wall and Hydraulic Tower.
“One of the key principles of developing the stadium was to protect the fabric of the historic features,” John McGovern, senior design manager at construction partner Laing O’Rourke, said.
“The assets are across the site and will, wherever necessary, be removed, refurbished and relocated within the public realm works, in locations appropriate to reflect their original use.
“It helps to connect those visiting the new stadium with the dock’s history, as a key staging post in the city’s maritime importance.”
Before he added: “We treated the whole site as a very sensitive space. KM Heritage were the originators of the Heritage strategy, which was developed to support the Planning application and guide us in relation to all heritage assets.
“During the pre-construction and planning phase, we assembled our design team including BDP Pattern, Buro Happold, Planit IE, Curtins and Heritage Project Management.
“The team worked in consultation with KM Heritage, Liverpool City Planning, Historic England and other stakeholders to ensure our construction design respected the heritage importance of all site features.
“Heritage Project Management now keep us on track as Heritage ‘clerk of works’ and provide and invaluable service of research, investigations and advice on methods, materials and products.
“One example of the level of detail involved is that they have undertaken a detailed survey of the Regent Road boundary wall, in three metre sections, to record conditions, the works necessary and proposed treatments.
“That included analysing the mortar in the walls, to determine the granularity, the colouring and the materials in it.
“We found that there is coal ash in the mortar and you can’t replicate that these days, so we have an alternative proposal that has been developed to replicate the original mortar.”
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