The first rail seating handrails are set to be installed at Everton Stadium.
As the seat installations continue at pace, with fast-approaching 40,000 now in situ, the first delivery of the handrails have arrived on site at Bramley-Moore Dock.
Everton Stadium will feature rail seating throughout the entire lower tier of the raking south stand for home fans, and also in the lower section of the away end in the north east corner. And initial installations are set to commence imminently in the south stand.
Elsewhere within the bowl, all of the ‘P’ handrails have been installed on access stairs, while most of the glass balustrading is in place at the vomitory entrances.
Work also continues to install ducting around the pitch surrounds, for the critical infrastructure of undersoil heating, below-ground drainage, irrigation pipes and cables for broadcasters.
Work has started on the barrel roof cladding at the south end of the east stand, while the intricately-shaped pieces have been fitted at the northern end, to provide clean edgings.
The top-level roof coverings are almost complete on the west stand, and the 172m lengths of top-sheet coverings are set to be rolled out on the expansive south stand, from a specially-adapted shipping container.
With the entire site now energised, and all mains infrastructure services are now connected, work is picking up apace inside, where suspended ceilings are being fitted and all catering and concession area equipment installed.
The sweeping Western Terrace, facing the River Mersey, is shaping up well, with concrete works now finished, waterproof membranes laid and, at the southern end, drainage layers being excavated in preparation for hard landscaping. Setts and paving along the Mersey river wall add another level of precise detail to what will become a superb vantage point for supporters.
Meanwhile, in the fan plaza, more trees have been planted and the third pedestrian gate has been lowered into the gap in the boundary wall that formerly served as the main site entrance for vehicles.
All three of the steel gates are now in position, and will be skilfully reintegrated into the wall using existing brickwork.
Skilled craftsmen form Vetter, a specialist stone contractor and part of the Laing O’Rourke group of companies, continue to painstakingly pave the 30,000m sq fan plaza that will serve as the spacious entrance to the stadium footprint.
And with the former access road that cut through the plaza now redundant, foundations are currently being laid for the installation of historic railway lines, before the two sections of paving are expertly joined up.
