Bramley-Moore Dock has been transformed with the news that all the water has now been displaced with sand.

It has taken three months for the historic dock to be filled with an initial 450,000 cubic metres of sea-dredged sand and transformed into a solid bed, from which Everton’s new 52,888-capacity stadium, one mile north of the city, can emerge.

The dock infill, which forms a key part of the enabling works, has seen a dredger called ‘The Shoalway’ painstakingly make more than 130 round trips over 20 miles out into the Irish Sea to collect sand.  

Andy Baynton, Principal Engineer at Laing O’Rourke, explained: “The Shoalway has been a 24/7 operation, with two crews operating 12-hour shifts.

“It’s been a huge operation to get us to this stage and now the dock is filled, it will be taken back to the Netherlands for a service, ready for its next project.”

With the water now displaced, the second phase of ground works has already begun. The sand is being compacted which will eventually allow for the 16-20 metre-deep piles currently being drilled on the northern and southern wharves to be extended across the site.

Jonathon Rowe, Ground Engineering Associate and Job Leader at consulting engineers, Buro Happold, explained the compaction process, which also involves careful monitoring and evaluation.

He said: “To ensure that the settlement of the dock infill is controlled and measurable, rapid dynamic compaction will now compact the upper six metres of the infilled sand.

“This is done by dropping a 16-tonne weight, at a frequency of 60 times per minute, with a land roller compactor completing this process.

“Once this has been achieved, we then validate that the right densities have been achieved, with penetration tests from the very top of the newly compacted sand to the bottom of the basin.

“As a result, the detailed construction and operation programme will be reviewed to establish how, when and what influence the infilling has had on the proposed construction process.

“It also determines the return periods of relaying the pavements, the hard standing and the pitch surface, all of which are ground bearing.”

In preparation for the compaction process the Grade II listed Hydraulic Tower, which will form an integral part of the fan plaza on the finished site, has been clad in scaffolding to ensure it is stabilised with the compaction vibrations ongoing.

Work also continues across the site to drill the 2,500 piles, at a rate of around 21 per day, and cap them in concrete to provide solid foundations to support the the steel and concrete sub-structure.