Miller’s Quay, Wirral Waters

DAWSON-WAM (DW) received the contract award from Graham Construction in 2022 to design and install load bearing piles at the Miller’s Quay waterfront residential development.
The piling works comprise the installation of more than 700nr piles over 7 buildings. The piles average about 30m in length, founding into the underlying Chester formation sandstone.

A mixture of 525mm diameter and 650mm diameter piles were installed with our Soilmec SF120 and RTG RG27S utilising CFA techniques.
The upper 9m of ground consisted of very soft clay and was therefore not considered suitable for load bearing. As a result, it was excluded from the pile design, with loads transferred to deeper, more competent strata.
Dawson WAM designed the piling works to account for negative skin friction, as a culvert previously on site had been removed and the area backfilled before piling works. The backfilled material may settle over time, creating additional downward forces on the piles. To ensure long-term performance, this was considered in the pile design.

Miller’s Quay is a major £130 million regeneration project that transformed a brownfield site into a sustainable residential community.
The development includes 500 highly sustainable waterfront apartments, including 100 affordable new homes. The development has been the catalyst for a number of waterside developments, and we are delighted to have been involved.
The project has received the award of the Residential Development of the Year at the 2025 Insider Liverpool City Region Property Awards. Miller’s Quay has also been recognised for its outstanding design quality, winning the top prize at the Housing Design Awards 2025 in the completed scheme category.