Everton Football Club’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Wharf has passed another milestone because the water has been completely replaced by sand.

It took three months to fill the pier with the initial 450,000 cubic meters of sea sand to form a solid bed on which a stadium with a capacity of 52,888 people will be built.

The filling of the pier was carried out by a dredger called The Shoalway owned by the Dutch company Boskalis. The Shoalway sailed more than 130 times in the Irish Sea, 32 kilometers away, to collect sand for filling.

Laing O'Rourke Chief Engineer Andy Baynton said: “Shoalway has been operating 24/7, with two crew members working 12 hours in shifts.

"It is a huge action to get us to this stage. Now that the terminal is full, it will be taken back to the Netherlands for service and ready for the next project."

The second phase of the foundation works involves compacting sand, which is already in progress. Piles of 16-20m are currently being drilled in the northern and southern piers and will extend to the entire site.

Biaohe Ground Engineering Assistant and Head of Work, Jonathan Rowe, explained the process: “In order to ensure that the settlement of the wharf filling is controlled and measurable, the rapid dynamic compaction will now compact the upper 6 meters of the filling sand.

"This is done by dropping 16 tons of heavy objects at a frequency of 60 times per minute and using a land roller to complete the process.

"Once this has been achieved, we will verify that the correct density has been achieved by penetration testing from the top of the newly compacted sand to the bottom of the basin.

"Therefore, detailed construction and operation plans will be reviewed to determine how, when and how the infill will affect the proposed construction process.

"It also determines the recovery cycle of sidewalks, hard facades and asphalt surfaces, all of which are ground bearings."

The secondary protection hydraulic tower is covered with scaffolding to ensure stability during the compaction process, because vibration may cause damage to it. It will become a part of the stadium fan square after completion.

A local Everton fan used his drone to take shots of filling the field, which you can watch below.

Just like you read? To receive daily and weekly newsletters for new civil engineers, click here.

Tagged as: Bramley Moore Wharf, Buro Happold, Everton, Laing O'Rourke

Log in or register for a new account to join the discussion.