EVERTON'S stunning new stadium has seen a remarkable feature added.
It comes ahead of the scheduled opening next year.
The £760million project on Bramley-Moore Dock is nearing completion, with recently released videos providing a glimpse of what the matchday experience will look like from the inside.
However, the massive waterfront stadium has also transformed the surrounding area and has recently marked a major milestone with one key development.
Water is now flowing from the western wharf of the Everton Stadium, which connects the dock system to the Leeds-Liverpool canal.
Almost half a million cubic metres of sand had originally been used to fill the dock - allowing for the stadium's construction by providing a key logistics area for project engineers.
But over the last six weeks, more than 17,000 cubic metres of sand has now been dug up to reclaim the channel, which has now been filled with water to crucially connect the docks.
This has created a new body of water which will add to the spectacular surroundings of the new stadium.
The milestone, first announced by project developers on Friday, said: "On Thursday morning, pumps that worked 24 hours a day to drain water from a series of de-watering wells three metres below the bed of the channel – thus maintaining an artificially low water table to allow the excavation to take place safely - were turned off to allow the water to naturally rise back to its natural level."
An isolation structure at the southern end of the channel has eight sluice gates which allow for the level between the two bodies of water to be controlled via valves that can be lifted and closed as required.
It will connect the neighbouring Sandon Half Tide Dock to the north with Nelson Dock to the south and create a water body adjacent to the stadium’s western wharf.
Chris Spragg, Project Leader at Laing O’Rourke, said: “Obviously we're well progressed with the stadium-build now and we're nearly there. This is one of the final parts of the jigsaw.
“We originally filled the dock with just under half a million cubic metres of sand to enable the stadium construction, and a new secant piled wall to be built in front of the Western terrace.
"The retention of sand within the channel during construction provided a valuable logistics space to suit our construction sequence.
"Now the stadium is nearing completion, it's time for the channel to be turned into a body of water.
“The water channel also provides connectivity for the Leeds-Liverpool canal, so that they can allow water to top the canal up through the dock system, which relies heavily on being able to use a water body in the Mersey to maintain the levels.”
A new bridge is also being built to the north for vehicular access to the west wharf.
However, part of the expansion has seen the original dock walls on the southern edge, including an engraved stone dating back to its historic opening in August 1848, preserved.