We have now given the official go-ahead for preliminary earthworks to start on the site of our new stadium.
This is essential preparatory work and our contractors should be on site very soon, once they have mobilised their workforce and resources.
When the site was handed to us on 24 December, demolition work had already been completed and some initial ground-preparation work had been done. The work that is starting now – the first work on site since we gained possession – involves:
• bringing in temporary site offices and other site-preparation works
• pumping away surface water that has accumulated in a ‘bowl’ on the site
• completing ground stabilisation work. This involves creating a stockpile of earth, treating the stockpile with lime and cement, and then returning the earth to the site in layers – this strengthens and stabilises the ground to get it ready for eventually laying the stadium’s foundations.
This work is being done by Buckingham Group under a letter of intent and is scheduled to take around 10 weeks to complete. No actual building work is starting yet, and we continue finalising the main contract for constructing the stadium itself.
There won’t be any ceremonials at the site when these initial earthworks start. We will instead mark breaking ground when we begin the main construction phase.