Liverpool 2 starts to take shape
Work has begun to install the steel piles that will form the foundations of the £300m Liverpool 2 deep water container terminal.
Specialist rock drilling equipment will provide sockets for 329 tubular steel piles weighing 47 tonnes each.
In excess of 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 this is one of the highest quay walls in Europe.
The new terminal is designed to enable Liverpool to handle larger modern container ships, many of which currently use southern container ports such as Southampton and Felixstowe which have the capability to handle larger vessels.
The completed quay wall will allow two vessels of up to 13,500 TEU to dock simultaneously when the terminal opens for business in 2015.
Mark Whitworth, chief executive of Peel Ports Group, which owns the Port of Liverpool, 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."
The Port of Liverpool also serves Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland with daily scheduled services to Belfast and Dublin.
