Mark's blog
Should Gatwick become London's hub?
While the South East airport capacity debate centres on a Heathrow third runway versus Boris Island in the Thames Estuary, Gatwick is coolly making an understated case for the next new runway to head its way.
Railtrack haunts Cameron's plan for road privatisation
Fear of recreating mistakes of the past is the biggest threat to prime minister David Cameron’s bold vision to drag England’s roads into the 21st century, aided by vast slugs of private money.
Old problems threaten to derail new era of light rail
Britain stands ready to embark on new era of light rail through tram-trains, but the age old problem of skyrocketing construction costs threatens to derail the dream before a new tram even leaves the depot.
Localism in transport sounds death knell for major schemes
New plans to devolve transport funding decisions to local transport bodies are good for the government’s localism agenda, but they could signal the death of big schemes.
2012: the year of the one stop shop
Last year’s warning from industry leaders to merge, be acquired or go under may have seemed bold and frightening talk, but 2012 shows no sign that the underlying business prerogative of the last few years – get bigger to offer a one-stop shop or be bought – is about to change. Nor is the fact that there are some vulnerable firms out there.
Life on Mars stalks a squeezed industry
The next three years will see many civil engineering contractors go to the wall unless clients take responsibility for the situation and ease the pressure on cash flow and project risk.
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Are one stop shops key to cracking the global market?
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Health & Safety - time to act on construction's achilles heel
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French lessons worth paying attention to
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Will lack of confidence dash £200bn infrastructure spend?
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Look to contractors for good business sense – and jobs
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TfL's bid to control trains has much going for it
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Climate of fear surrounds accident reporting
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Extinction awaits those firms who ignore BIM
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Sustainable aspirations are undermined by compromise
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Why London needs more railways
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IUK's cost success may depend on individuals alone
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Fierce competition and rising prices pile pressure on civils firms
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High Speed Two: passenger forecasts are a risky business
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Resistance to innovation spells terminal decline for UK contractors
News from NCE Managing Editor Mark Hansford
Government ducks key roads decisions
Transport secretary Justine Greening has been accused of ducking key decisions on future highways investment after announcing a series of reviews and feasibility studies in response to the Cook review of the Highways Agency.
Colas takes off with Gatwick job and hunts for international work
UK highways maintenance contractor Colas is targeting international wins to boost its growing airport resurfacing operation, NCE has learned.
Brenner Base Tunnel edges closer to full funding
Promoters of what will be the longest rail tunnel in the world are close to securing funding to begin construction proper, NCE has learned.
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Reform of PFI needs impetus to soothe investors, warn engineers
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Special report: Hammersmith cable tensioning now complete
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One in three government projects is running late
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McNulty rail cost report ‘harsh’, says senior industry figure
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Amey’s £2bn Sheffield highways win boosts PFI as funding model
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Crossrail team signs up to CARE Construction Challenge
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European Commission considers ban on non-EU contractors
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Hyder reveals ‘aggressive’ Saudi expansion plans
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Hyder wins contract to design 50 Qatar reservoirs
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Balfour Beatty poised for £500M highways job
Mark's features
Alpine drive: Building the world's longest railway tunnel between Austria and Italy
Deep beneath the Austrian Alps a veritable labyrinth of tunnels and caverns is being created ahead of works to bore the world’s longest railway tunnel between Austria and Italy.
Mark Hansford
Mark Hansford is Deputy Editor of New Civil Engineer.
Brief biography
I am a qualified civil engineer with more than 15 years construction industry experience. Since joining NCE in 2000, I have been the first construction journalist into Iraq following the second Gulf War (and won IBP News Reporter of the Year as a result), was on the scene in tsunami-struck Sri Lanka, reported on a fatal bridge collapse in Portugal, covered a tunnel blaze in Baltimore, and exposed fundamental design failings in the Windsor's Jubilee River.
I am now responsible for the day-to-day running of NCE online and on-page.
Email me: mark.hansford@emap.com
Big interviews by Mark Hansford
Getting closer: Joint working sees Colas and Volker Fitzpatrick win big
A £32M roads job wouldn’t normally make many waves, but for Colas and Volker Fitzpatrick their project to move and improve the A45 alongside a £33M lengthening of the runway at Birmingham Airport is highly significant.
