Everton F.C. new home slowly taking shape

Article posted by Coliseum, May 13^th, 2022

Image: The Business Desk & artist impression

In the coming months the Premier League team Everton F.C.’s (UK) new stadium build at Bramley-Moore Dock is about to take on its next shape-shifting change.

The ‘Everton FC’ stated that thus far, all the focus has been on filling in the dock to provide firm foundations and preparing the ground works, which have progressed to the stage that the club has seen the concrete cores emerge in the four corners and grow in size every day.

The Everton Football Club is an English professional football club based in Liverpool (UK) that competes in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Presently, the 39,572-capacity Goodison Park in Liverpool, England, serves as their home facility.

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The 52,888-capacity Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium is a proposed football stadium by Everton on the Bramley-Moore Dock in Vauxhall, Liverpool, England (UK). The dock itself was built in 1848. The stadium is proposed to be opened in time for the start of the 2024-2025 Premier League season, replacing Goodison Park.

However, next month, the first deliveries of steelwork that form the skeletal structure are expected to arrive on site.

Through advance preordering, the club has been able to secure cost clarity while mitigating any delays in the production and delivery of its steelwork.

Everything is on track and over 1,000 tonnes of steel has been manufactured in readiness for the next key stage of the build, and the club is on schedule to start erecting steel in June.

Like with many stadia, the majority of the build is precast concrete, which is located in the West and East stands.

The steel that is being produced at the minute is mainly for the North Stand, and also raking columns for the South Stand, which will eventually appear externally in the final build.

The ‘Everton FC’ further stated that the manufacturing and installation of this steelwork is a huge, complex job and one that requires an astonishing level of detail and coordination.

Intricate columns and beams all require individual identification to slot into the overall scheme, and all the items being manufactured are marked with a three-dimensional coordinate, so it is known precisely where they fit into the 3D model.

Essentially it’s a huge engineering jigsaw puzzle, where pinpoint planning, precision and accuracy are essential.

Steel reacts differently to concrete and will expand and contract, and some of the other components that hang off the steel, such as aluminum curtain walling and glazing, have different tolerance levels, so all of the design components require well-engineered and meticulously designed junctions and connections that allow them to flex, without compromising how they perform in the overall structure.

There is some particularly complex geometry in those areas, where roof trusses are supported by raking beams, so the level of detail that goes into designing those junctions, and where services such as water and power pass through voids, is simply incredible.

The items are also prepainted, either with fire coatings, or a marine environment protection coat. This is because some of these pieces of steel are hard to reach, so they are pretreated in safe factory conditions.

The sacrificial lifting positions are premanufactured and attached to the steelwork, ensuring the paintwork doesn’t get damaged during the lifting operation. It is all about mitigating risk to people – both now and in the future – as well as certainty of fit and making sure it all comes together as planned.

The Design for Manufacture and Assembly methodology means that the majority of the stadium will be built in the controlled environment of factories, which will provide certainty around the entire project’s program, quality and costs.

The first stairwells have been fitted into some of the corner structures. Lifting these stairwells into place has been complicated, as they have to be lifted in at certain angles.

But they are important as the staircases provide permanent access to the labor force for the fit-out work streams coming up. It negates the need for temporary access stairs and scaffolding, so seeing these stairs installed, well in advance of the operatives needing to get to the concourse or terraced areas, is really useful.

In the coming weeks, tower cranes will arrive on site. These tall cranes will start to be erected in preparation for the arrival of the steelwork.

The club requested people not to fly drones to capture what is happening onsite as this could become dangerous to the operatives who will be working at height in the cranes.

As a result, there is currently a ‘no-fly zone’ in operation over the site. The club’s Engagement team will be in touch with supporters and organizations who wish to fly drones to discuss an amicable arrangement that ensures the safety of everyone working onsite and allow them the opportunity to share and embrace the incredible work taking place at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Finally, for those interested in future milestones, following the installation of the steelworks, the next major milestone will be the delivery of the precast terraces. At that point Everton F.C.’s new home really will begin to take shape.

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