The People’s Project
Simon Beards, Principal Planner, Laing O’Rourke, talks to Danielle Kenneally
Among one of the oldest football stadiums in England, Goodison Park, is soon to be replaced by the bigger and flashier Bramley-Moore Dock stadium on the banks of the Mersey.
An ambitious project which once complete will accommodate more than 13,000 additional spectators to Everton FC’s home matches, bringing even more match day noise and regenerating its new home in Liverpool.
Set in a post-industrial area longing for the buzz of the city, it is hoped it will become a cornerstone of Liverpool Waters, the masterplan to transform some 60 hectares of land along the waterfront.
Its challenging dockside location has given its main contractor, Laing O’Rourke, alongside steelwork specialists, Severfield, and consultant, Buro Happold who supported BDP Pattern on the stadium’s technical design, the opportunity to think innovatively when it comes to design and construction.
For Laing O’Rourke’s principal planner and Everton fan, Simon Beards, it was all about modern methods of construction and digital design. He explains to the Civil Engineering Surveyor’s Danielle Kenneally the complexities of bringing the ongoing project to fruition.
Can you give us a short overview of the project?
A new Everton FC stadium has been talked about for more than 30 years. After being unable to secure planning permission at different sites for nearly two decades, planning permission was secured on a redundant dock on the banks of the River Mersey in Vauxhall, Liverpool, and construction on the 52,888 seater Bramley Moore Dock stadium, now known as Everton Stadium, started in July 2021.
The Grade II listed dock had to be infilled with 436,395m3 of sea-dredged sand which is the equivalent of 180 Olympic-sized swimming pools. This was after bomb disposal removed and detonated the unearthed Second World War unexploded ordnance – quite a surreal moment.From a build perspective, the instant thought was, how should we go about it? As the main contractor, there’s been a lot to develop and consider, including logistics, the environment, its heritage, and what the fans want to see. However, with an estimated current project budget of more than £500m, given the scale of the Everton project and its location, it’ll be mindblowing once it’s completed.
The Grade II listed dock had to be infilled with 436,395m3 of sea-dredged sand which is the equivalent of 180 Olympicsized swimming pools. This was after bomb disposal removed and detonated the unearthed Second World War unexploded ordnance – quite a surreal moment.
Arranging the precast concrete part steel structure in a bowl configuration followed this.
This Dan Meis designed stadium will ensure the acoustics capture and retain the feel of a small stadium culture of loud noise despite its increase in size. It’s a 178 week project programme with so many elements to it to ensure it works for the club and the community now and into the future. Now that we’re into the final third, the completion date of the end of 2024 is in sight. It’s incredibly exciting.
What is your role within the project?
I’m one of the principal planners on the project. There are about seven or eight planners in total and we all work closely together with the delivery team. Our role is to supervise and participate in the critical aspects of the project’s plans and developments, from liaising with clients, to preparing and submitting applications and project management. Personally, I have been involved in the project since the beginning, from the pre-contract and preconstruction services agreement phase, right through to contract commencement in July 2021 and up to this point now.
The civil engineering effort behind the project is huge and definitely merits the achievement as a finalist at the Bentley Year in Infrastructure and Going Digital awards. What have been the benefits and challenges around collaboration?
We’ve used some really innovative design and construction techniques in what is a challenging dockland location.We have a longstanding relationship with software providers and this includes Bentley Systems software. Our entry into last year’s Year in Infrastructure and Going Digital awards highlighted our use of SYNCHRO for infrastructure construction management and LumenRT for real-time simulated infrastructure design visuals.
The market for construction software is huge and the benefits of software like Bentley Systems include its interoperability. It is great for collaboration, however, any new software we would want to introduce can be a challenge when it comes to training people up on a big project. Essentially though, it’s about what feels right. Hopefully now with the use of digital twins, people can really see the development in the industry and it’ll make people get on board and look to the future.
What construction challenges have you faced?
We’ve used some really innovative design and construction techniques in what is a challenging dockland location. We retained the dock’s soft silts and compacting the sandy infill on top of this was an engineering challenge in itself. Part of the planning condition required that measures were taken to protect the heritage, for example, the dock wall whereby it could in future be returned to a dock.
Another challenge was the wind, we did a lot of analysis to ensure the perforated roof and aluminium panels that form the structure’s distinctive barrel cladding would mitigate the effects of wind, while protecting spectators on the exposed dockside location, once installed.
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How have modern methods of construction (MMC) and digital technology helped with this?
For this project, we were able to construct and prepare off-site more in factory conditions resulting in better quality. This was a critical aspect of construction, especially when it came to environmental factors, such as the wind, which meant less dependence on the use of cranes. For us, we really trusted the programme and our strategy, and in fact 40% of the build was available to us before we’d begun to put it in place which was a great tool for planning ahead.
Another example of MMC and digital technology working in harmony, was the computer design of 731 brick façade panels in a 3D environment. They were monitored in factory conditions because more than half a million bricks would clad the stadium, exceeding the capacity of the UK’s available bricklayers.
The brickwork complements the historic industrial dockside surroundings, with each brick specially shaped to be cast into concrete panels ensuring quality, sustainability, speed and safety. The blend of handmade craftmanship and modern technologies will preserve the heritage of the site. The first of these brick facade panels, which match those on the external walls of the stadium itself, have just recently been fitted to the western terrace walls.
What else can we expect to see in 2024?
Work continues on making the stadium watertight, as well as completing the coverings on the east-stand roof, and ensuring all the inside stadium works, such as seating, safety railings and balustrades within the bowl have been completed. Work has also begun on digging out the water channel that will eventually reconnect the dock system to the north and south of the stadium.
It was halted when the dock was initially infilled with sand and transformed into a solid bed and now that the western terrace structure is complete in the western wharf, the sand is being excavated – exposing the dock walls again. So we’re at the first stage towards reconnecting the waterway. The pitch area itself has been cleared of cranes and other construction plant as we start laying the foundations for the playing surface. The pitch install programme of works will last about 20 weeks.
The plan is to have it all completed by December 2024, with test events planned in the new year to give the stadium the go-ahead before it can be used at full capacity for the first match of the 2025/26 season.
Finally, our members will be wondering what it’s been like to be involved in the project as an Everton fan?
It is amazing to be involved in as a fan. It is incredibly exciting to be working towards its completion, a legacy – I can’t wait to see it finished and join the rest of the fans in creating the best atmosphere when the team plays football in it for the first time.
Simon Beards, Principal Planner, Laing O’Rourke, talks to Danielle Kenneally
All images courtesy of Laing O’Rourke.