UK: Lend Lease Lands Liverpool 2 Port Contract

Peel Ports yesterday named international property and infrastructure group Lend Lease as principal contractor for Liverpool2, its new £300m deep-water container terminal at the Port of Liverpool.

The landmark terminal, which will bring some of the world’s largest container ships to the Mersey, will be open for business in 2015. Located in the River Mersey, it will avoid vessel size restrictions of the current container terminal, which is located within a closed dock system accessed by locks.

As principal contractor, Lend Lease will be Peel Ports’ construction partner for the Liverpool2 development, and a key part of the project delivery team.

Lend Lease will drive the overall programme, support operations, and will collaborate with Peel Ports’ team in managing value together in such areas as establishing site facilities and rules, obtaining the best from the still to be named quay wall contractor, optimising the electricity solution and designs for ancillary works and ensuring the efficient and cost effective delivery of work packages.

Peel Ports Mersey managing director Gary Hodgson said: “The naming of the principal contractor is a vitally important move in the construction of Liverpool2, and we are confident that Lend Lease, with an impressive track record on major construction projects across the globe, is the right company for the job.

“This facility represents a transformational project for the Peel Ports business. It will bring thousands of jobs and economic prosperity to the Merseyside region along with the rest of the North West. The Liverpool2 brand will become known throughout the world as our new container terminal brings customers to the North West from all points of the compass from South America to the Far East.

“By any standard it is a significant development and a major investment. By naming the principal contractor today, we have further emphasised our commitment to the building of Liverpool2.”

Lend Lease executive director for Lend Lease project management and construction across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Michael Dyke said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this contract and are particularly excited at working with Peel Ports, as they seek to redefine such an important entry point to UK plc. Liverpool2 is a complex project that will require close collaboration with all stakeholders, at every level. The alignment of Lend Lease core values, with those of Peel Ports, will be a significant aspect of successful delivery. This project is wholly consistent with our increased focus on economic infrastructure and reinforces our commitment to the EMEA region, given the significant contribution Liverpool2 will have upon the local community and the UK economy as a whole.”

Liverpool2 programme director at Peel Ports, Douglas Coleman, said: “The naming of the principal contractor is a landmark stage in the development of the Liverpool2 container terminal, and there was massive interest from companies throughout the ports construction industry. We believe that Lend Lease is the correct choice to be our construction partner in what is a technically complex project.”

The new terminal will accommodate two vessels of up to 13,500 teu at a time. It will allow shipping lines, exporters and importers to connect to the UK’s major trade centres in the most cost efficient and carbon friendly manner as a result of the container terminal being located in the centre of the British Isles.

Forecast usage by importers and exporters will remove over 150 million miles of transport from the UK’s motorway and rail freight networks, thus reducing congestion, improving the carbon footprint of international supply chains and delaying the requirement for public expenditure on future transport network capacity.

This will be the largest boost to employment creation and the Merseyside economy since the development of the Liverpool ONE city centre retail complex, delivering over 6,000 jobs.

Liverpool2 is the key project in the Mersey Ports Master Plan, the 20-year vision for growth and future developments at the Port of Liverpool and on the Manchester Ship Canal – launched by Peel Ports last year.

Liverpool2 will connect directly to a number of port centric logistics hubs along the Manchester Ship Canal via barge – resulting in the development of the UK’s first “green logistics hub” which will reduce costs, congestion and carbon footprint for businesses located in the North West of England, serving the North of the UK.

This will allow global shippers to access the UK’s major import centres via the most economic and lowest carbon route and provide Northern-based exporters with a more competitive route to market.

The construction programme comprises of a new 854 metre quay wall, the in-filling of the newly created land-mass, the dredging of a new 16.5 metre deep berthing pocket adjacent to the quay wall, the installation of ship to shore quay cranes and modern cantilever rail mounted gantry cranes (CRMGs) and associated supporting infrastructure works.

The quay wall contractor will be named in the near future, and further packages of work will be advertised, including design and consultancy services.

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Dredging Today Staff, September 19, 2012; Image: merseydocks