Piling work starts at Liverpool2
CONTRACTORS building the £300m Liverpool2 deep-water terminal have started work on the steel piling required to support the structure.
Specialist rock drilling equipment will provide sockets for 329 tubular steel piles weighing in at 47 tonnes each.
More than 19,000 tonnes of steelwork will be needed to create the new 854 metre-long quay wall, followed by 30,000 cubic metres of concrete to build the capping beam. At almost 30m high it will be one of the highest quay walls in Europe.
The terminal, which will allow some of the world’s largest container ships to dock in the Mersey, will open in 2015 and deliver about 6,000 jobs, according to the Peel Group which owns the Port of Liverpool.
It will avoid vessel size restrictions of the current container terminal, which is located within a closed dock system accessed by locks, and allow two 13,500-container ships at a time, up from the current 3,500 limit.
Mark Whitworth, chief executive of the Peel Ports Group, said: “Our investment in Liverpool2 will enable deep sea vessels to call directly at the most centrally positioned port in the UK, allowing shippers to access a market of over 35 million consumers within 150 miles.
“What is genuinely exciting is the Port of Liverpool’s unique logistics proposition which capitalises on its natural geographic advantage. Liverpool offers an all-water route into the UK’s most populous urban area via a frequent feeder service on the Manchester Ship Canal.
“An importer can move their product from anywhere in the world to the heart of the UK – within a stones’ throw of Manchester – without touching an inch of UK road tarmac. That is very appealing to many businesses both for its carbon and its cost-saving advantages.”
Lend Lease is the principal contractor on the scheme.
