New Civil Engineer
03 May 2012
View all stories from this issue.
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Aecom wins to £1.8M contract to develop transport masterplan for Romania
Aecom’s UK transport team has been appointed by the Romanian Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure to develop a masterplan and development strategy for its national transportation system. -
Andrew McNaughton named Balfour Beatty deputy chief executive
Andrew McNaughton is to step up to the role of deputy chief executive at Balfour Beatty following the retirement of Anthony Rabin -
Arup to design £400M cable stayed bridge in Long Beach, California
A £400M Arup-designed cable stayed bridge has been chosen as the best value option for the Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project by California’s Port of Long Beach and Caltrans officials. -
Arup to work with Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei on new Serpentine pavilion
Consultant Arup is to work with architects Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei on the next summer pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery in London. -
Arup wins Chilean metro station concept design work
Consultant Arup has been appointed by Metro de Santiago to lead the concept design of 11 stations in the Chilean capital. -
BIM can get better results
Building Information Modelling can promote cooperation through the supply chain. -
BIM: Change culture
Widespread adoption of Building Information Modelling techniques across construction is as much a cultural challenge as a technical one. Antony Oliver reports on progress and Mott MacDonald’s Richard Shennan explains how adoption can benefit the entire supply chain in NCE’s BIM quarterly. -
Boxing clever
Delivering new infrastructure through urban areas is challenging enough but work on the Brisbane Airport Link meant the new road had to pass under a major rail link - without interrupting services. GE takes a look at the project. -
Christchurch: Quake destruction avoidable
Engineers could have saved the earthquake-damaged Anglican cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand if they had been quicker to install temporary propping around the structure, a leading heritage engineer has said. -
Confirmed: Bakerloo Line bulge caused by grouting
London Underground (LUL) has confirmed that a “bulge” that closed the Bakerloo Line last week was caused by grouting operations being carried out to stop water ingress into the Tube tunnel. -
Construction firms fined over Liverpool crane collapse
Two construction firms have been sentenced after a crane collapsed onto a city centre apartment block in Liverpool, resulting in the crane driver being paralysed from the waist down. -
Contractors demand government action after figures show industry in worse state than thought
The Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) has called for government to act after publication on Friday of worse-than-expected construction output figures by the Office of National Statistics. -
Cost of water may have to rise, says Lords committee
Governments of the UK and other European countries may have to act urgently to facilitate a rise in the cost of water to safeguard supplies and quality, a House of Lords committee warned this week. -
Costain first contractor to achieve BS11000 status for collaborative working
Costain has become the first construction company in the UK to achieve BS11000 status for collaborative working. -
Crossrail's first TBM breaks ground at Royal Oak
Crossrail’s first tunnel boring machine (TBM), Phyllis, has broken ground near Paddington to construct the first section of tunnel between Royal Oak and Farringdon. -
Cumbria's Northside bridge rebuild reaches key milestone
Birse Civils has installed the main beams of Cumbria County Council’s £11.2M reconstruction of Northside Bridge in Workington, over the River Derwent. -
Cutting edge leader
Delivery of innovative geotechnical solutions on the Highway Agency’s road network is not being stifled by budget cuts, according to Alex Kidd. Claire Symes reports. -
Development work to start on six delayed road schemes
Roads minister Mike Penning has sanctioned the development of six road schemes delayed following the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review. -
Don't let innovation fall victim to efficiency and cost cutting
As Vince Cable will no doubt make clear during his address to the ACE annual conference on 24 May, no public body or infrastructure project in the UK is immune to the pressures of the coalition’s austerity plan. -
Drax closes in on major turbine modernisation
Drax Power Station is a month away from completing what it claims is the largest steam turbine modernisation programme in UK history in an attempt to increase the coal-fired power station’s efficiency. -
Environment Agency relaxes drought status after heavy rains
The Environment Agency has said that south west England, the Midlands and parts of Yorkshire are no longer in drought due to the recent rainfall. -
Fehmarnbelt archaeological investigations start
Survey work to check for archaeological remains along the planned route of the Fehmernbelt fixed link has got underway. -
Final call for GSF entries
The final date for entering data for the 2012 Geotechnical Services File is 31 May but many companies have yet to start or complete their entries. -
First sprayed concrete Crossrail tunnels complete
Crossrail this week revealed that the £14.5bn project’s first two sprayed concrete tunnels have been constructed under Finsbury Circus in the City of London. -
Freedom of choice
Competition to supply water to business users is set to spread from Scotland to England says Mark Powles, chief executive of Business Stream, Scotland’s largest non-domestic water supplier. -
Fugro acquisition expands French business
Fugro has announced that it has acquired France-based geoconsultant Geoter. -
Government confirms intention for long awaited energy market reform
The government confirmed its commitment to overhauling the energy market by promising an Energy Bill in the Queen’s speech yesterday. -
Government grants consent for new 299MW Welsh wind farm
Energy minister Charles Hendry this week granted consent to developer Vattenfall for the Pen Y Cymoedd project, a 299MW wind farm between Neath and Aberdare in South Wales. -
Government launches new dash for gas
The government has launched a call for evidence to inform a strategy that would make gas-fired power stations part of a “secure and affordable” route to a low carbon economy. -
Grontmij sells Trett Consulting to Driver Group
Troubled consultant Grontmij has sold its UK dispute resolution and contractual advice consultancy, Trett Consulting, to Driver Group. -
Hain leaves shadow cabinet to campaign for Severn Barrage
Labour MP Peter Hain this week resigned as Welsh shadow secretary to help campaign for the resurrection of the £32bn Severn Barrage project. -
ICE reports 75% rise in media coverage
Media coverage of the ICE inreased sharply during the first quarter of the year, the Institution’s latest media report shows. -
Itmsoil aims for growth
UK-based geotechnical instrumentation business Itmsoil has announced that it undergone a management buy out. -
Kent to consult market over £25M design and consultancy contract
Kent County Council is to hold a market engagement day ahead of tendering for five year design and consultancy services contracts worth up to £5M per annum. -
Key milestone in redevelopment of Blackfriars as two new platforms open for use
Work to rebuild Blackfriars station came a step closer to completion yesterday as the station’s final two new platforms open for use. -
Laboritory conditions
While foundations for offshore wind farms may be a hot topic in geotechnics, the growing demand for testing of renewable energies is presenting the foundations market with a different challenge. Claire Symes reports. -
Letters: High Speed 2 is a black hole for taxpayers’ money
Alexandra Wynne’s article on High Speed 2 points to a reduction in the benefit to cost ratio from January 2012 of 1.4 to 1.2 for the short route and 1.6 to 1.4 for the full Y route (NCE 19 April).My view is that those promoting this scheme should be ashamed of thems -
London councils add support to new Heathrow rail link
Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham councils have added their backing to Wandsworth Council’s proposal for a new direct rail services between Waterloo and Heathrow. -
Mersey Gateway promoter confirms commitment to cable stayed bridge
The promoter of the Mersey Gateway crossing this week restated its commitment to building an “iconic” cable-stayed structure. -
Middle East and US wins help Balfour Beatty maintain its £15bn order book
Balfour Beatty has maintained an order book of £15bn thanks to good wins in its US and Middle East operations. -
Moor power to you
The peat Moorlands of the Pennines have posed several challenges for foundations contractors at Britain’s latest wind farm development. Declan Lynch reports -
New figures show 911 construction firms went bust in last three months
The latest construction insolvency figures out today show that 911 construction companies went out of business in the last registered quarterly figures. -
New London cable car completes test 'flight'
Construction of London’s first urban cable car came a step closer to opening yesterday as all 34 cabins of the Emirates Air Line took off for their inaugural load testing ‘flight’. -
Nuclear legacy sites given all clear following stress tests
Safety reassessments of the UK’s non-power generating nuclear sites were revealed to have “no serious weakness”, according to an official report out today. -
Olympic Stadium bidding deadline extended by eight weeks
The deadline for submitting bid for the use of the Olympic Stadium in legacy has been extended by eight weeks, the London Legacy Development Corporation announced yesterday. -
One in three government projects is running late
Government attempts to create certainty about future projects hit a snag this week after official figures showed that many projects could be delayed. -
Painless extraction
Bauer Technologies has come up with an innovative way of removing piles from a Crossrail site in Moorgate, central London. NCE reports. -
Parsons Brinckerhoff sweeps £8M worth of High Speed 2 systems contracts
Scheme promoter HS2 Ltd has awarded two design contracts to Parsons Brinckerhoff worth £8M in total under Lot 2 of its Professional Services Framework covering Railway Systems Design Services. -
Peacehaven sewage treatment works: Down but not dirty
This Spring marks a major milestone for engineers building a mega £300M wastewater treatment scheme in Sussex. Mark Hansford went to Peacehaven to find out more. -
Piling progress for treatment works upgrade
Sheet piling and shoring work for the upgrade of Old Whittington waste water treatment work in Derbyshire has been fast tracked using some innovation safety solutions. -
Piling: Birthday presence
Piling equipment and plant supplier Watson & Hillhouse is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a new contract to supply machines for Italian manufacturer Enteco. -
Piling: timely decisions
Crewe-based piling company Terrawise Construction was given just two weekends to install foundations for new overhead rail lines. NCE reports on how the team pulled it off. -
Rail regulator sets out plan to scrutinise Network Rail funding at route level
The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has set out plans to assess the amount Network Rail can charge for access to its lines at a route level in future as part of moves to drive savings, -
Repairs begin on M4's Boston Manor Viaduct
Engineers will this week begin work on repairing cracks on Boston Manor Viaduct, a crucial M4 motorway structure that is part of the Olympic Route Network. -
Seeking better value
How construction is helping to deliver. -
Special report: Hammersmith cable tensioning now complete
Amey and Transport for London engineers last week finished the tricky installation and tensioning of new cables inside the stricken Hammersmith flyover, two days ahead of schedule. Mark Hansford reports from west London. -
Steve Fox: On the margin
Bam Nuttall has bagged significant high profile, large value work in the past year. But chief executive Steve Fox tells Alexandra Wynne that the industry must do more to stave off the tough times that loom. -
Strength in depth
Construction of Bolton’s new waste transfer station is now underway following fast delivery of ground improvement using a new technique for the UK market. Claire Symes reports. -
Sustainable solutions can reduce costs
Providing clients with more sustainable foundations solutions doesn’t have to mean greater costs Keller sales director Derek Taylor said at today’s GE Piling and Foundations Conference. -
Thames Hub airport plans debated
A panel of experts debated the economic, engineering and environmental viability of a Thames Hub airport at a joint ICE South East, London and East of England event at One Great George Street last week. Panellists London Assembly Environment Committee chair Murad Qureshi, Nick Raynsford MP, Deutsche Bank managing director Mike Redican, Volterra Consulting chair Bridget Rosewell and Foster & Partners partner Huw Thomas explored the concept in front of aviation, business and regeneration ex -
Trade body urges construction firms to seek out £20bn construction bonanza in Brazil
UK Trade & Investment is urging UK companies to bid for more than £20bn worth of infrastructure projects in Brazil. The contracts relate to the Pedra de Ferro mining project, the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. -
Two local roads schemes worth £144M to start
Transport ministers have given the green light for construction to start on Devon’s £109M Kingskerswell bypass and Corby’s £34M link road. -
Water and sewerage firms need step change in innovation, warns regulator
Water and sewerage firms need to make a step change in innovation if they are to meet the challenges of ever rising customer expectations, population growth and climate change, water regulator Ofwat warned today.
