GRAHAM progresses bridge and park works on £71m Central Docks infrastructure job in Liverpool

GRAHAM has reported progress on concrete works for a pedestrian bridge and a road bridge at Central Docks in Liverpool, part of a £71m infrastructure contract for Peel Waters that is due to finish in late spring 2028.

In a progress update, the contractor said preparations were under way for bridge installation, alongside pile cap and wing wall works. Demolition of the former screening chamber on the site is continuing, it said, to make way for central infrastructure and platform construction.

Within Central Park, the public open space at the centre of the scheme, profile grading has started while drainage works progress. GRAHAM said historic dock cobbles along River Walk South had been cleaned, reclaimed and reinstated to form a new waterfront route.

Sub-base, kerbing and drainage works on Dock Wall Walk are complete and the route is ready for surfacing, according to the update, while utility ducting continues as works on Park Street and River Walk near completion.

The contract

Peel Waters appointed GRAHAM to deliver underground utilities, roads and public realm at Central Docks, including construction of what GRAHAM's appointment release described as a 2.1-hectare Central Park. The works are intended to support about 2,350 new homes.

The award followed a preconstruction services agreement (PCSA) secured by GRAHAM for the Central Docks infrastructure works. At that stage the contractor said the PCSA would run for five months and that the project was split into four segments, among them infill of the existing below-ground screening chamber and Section 278 works covering permanent alterations to public highways and underground services.

GRAHAM was procured through Pagabo's Civil Engineering & Infrastructure Framework, managed on behalf of contracting authority QE Facilities.

Alastair Lewis, Contracts Director at GRAHAM, said at the time of the appointment: "Early works including preconstruction activities, design and site mobilisation will commence in August." Peel Waters said construction of the park and infrastructure was scheduled to begin that autumn, and a groundbreaking ceremony has since been held on site.

The funding

The £71m contract is the largest part of an £81.1m total project cost, according to GRAHAM's groundbreaking release. The funding is made up of direct investment from Peel Waters and a grant from Homes England, with Liverpool City Council acting as accountable body for the grant on behalf of Peel Waters.

Funding source	Amount
Homes England grant	£55.2m
Peel Waters direct investment	£25.9m

GRAHAM and Peel Waters round the Homes England contribution to £55.2m; the GOV.UK page for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) referral gives the proposed figure as £55.28m from the agency's Brownfield Infrastructure and Land (BIL) grant funding.

According to that GOV.UK page, the grant covers site-wide groundworks and remediation, raising site levels to mitigate flood risk, highways improvements and the new Central Park and public realm. Funding is available against agreed infrastructure costs from November 2024 until March 2027. Because the subsidy exceeds £10m it was classed as a Subsidy of Particular Interest and referred to the CMA's Subsidy Advice Unit.

The land is wholly owned by Peel L&P Developments Limited, and the serviced plots are to be delivered by developers over 10 to 15 years, the page said.

The wider site

Central Docks is one of five neighbourhoods within Liverpool Waters, a 60-hectare former dockland that Peel Waters said is being transformed into a mixed-use waterfront neighbourhood. Liverpool Waters said the 2,350 homes at Central Docks have planning permission and will be a mix of affordable, elderly, build-to-rent and open market housing.

The park, described in the groundbreaking releases as five acres and set to become one of the inner city's largest green spaces, is planned to include hundreds of new trees, play areas, and sports and recreational facilities, with new walking and cycling routes for residents, visitors and workers.

James Whittaker, Managing Director of Peel Waters, said at the groundbreaking that the start of works marked "a pivotal moment not just for Liverpool Waters". Councillor Liam Robinson, Leader of Liverpool City Council, said the appointment set in motion a multi-million investment drive.

More than 60 students from the newly opened City of Liverpool College Construction Academy attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

GRAHAM's PCSA release had anticipated completion by mid 2028; its groundbreaking release and Liverpool Waters both now give late spring 2028 for completion of the infrastructure works and Central Park.