Steel sheet piles are methodically and meticulously driven into the South Basin seabed as the island’s largest excavator trundles over vast mounds of aggregate effortlessly moving material into position.

Meanwhile landscapers, engineers, structural crews and heavy machine operators are busily shaping Bermuda’s newest landmass that is set to form the foundations of the America’s Cup village for next year’s event.

Steady progress continues on the nine-acre West End site, which has already employed hundreds of workers and scores of local firms since work began last year. Yesterday, The Royal Gazette was given the first glimpse of the multimillion-dollar project from ground level as preparations for work on the new French and Japanese team bases begins.

“There’s about 40 workers on site today but the number fluctuates depending on what is going on,” said Richard Noel, BCM McAlpine’s project manager for the South Basin.

“The sheet piles are being driven down into the seabed that will provide the boundary for the new land. So far we have done about 400 of the 2,500 that have been imported.

“This part of the project is expected to be completed by the end of May.”

The land reclamation project has involved about 140,000 cubic yards of dredged material from the North Channel and 160,000 cubic yards of imported crushed granite being deposited in the South Basin. At the time, a large sediment cloud formed around the spot where the aggregate was deposited, however, since that time water has cleared and fish and marine life appears to have returned to the waters surrounding the development.

“There were obviously concerns about the environmental impact of the work at the time,” Mr Noel said. “However, we have quickly seen shoals of fry, red snappers and even hogfish in the waters around the site.”

In the coming months the ground level of the site is expected to be raised by another 2ft to 3ft, while a splash wall will be constructed all around the perimeter of the peninsula to provide protection against the elements.

The mounds of aggregate and dredged material will slowly be levelled out and moved up against the wall of sheet piles in the coming months, however, one old structure will remain intact throughout the process.

The old Magazine Building on the existing arm that reaches out into the Great Sound is a protected building and although surrounded by metal fences at present, it will be upgraded and incorporated into the America’s Cup village.

The development team is hoping that the reclamation project will be completed by the end of June, at which time services such as electricity, sewage and data will be fitted.

“We have had some challenges with the weather along the way,” said Maurice Caines, BCM McAlpine’s site superintendent.

“Last year we had some pretty high winds up here — about 35 to 40 knots. There have also been some interesting finds in the dredged material: we came across a large anchor and an old artillery shell that we gave to the museum.”

Adam Barbosa, project manager for the ACBDA, told The Royal Gazette he was looking forward to the completion of the project.

“America’s Cup Bermuda is proud that we have numerous contractors and vendors providing services and gaining experience from creating the infrastructure for the America’s Cup event village,” he said.

“There have been more than 200 workers employed on the project and more than 50 companies involved.

It’s a great opportunity of Bermuda pulling together to produce this large-scale development.”