News Roundup

 

HS2’s world-first box ‘bridge slide’ over the M42 in Warwickshire completed

Balfour Beatty VINCI has celebrated moving of a 12,600-tonne bridge required for HS2 – a record 165m – into position across a motorway in Warwickshire. The site team worked around the clock to move HS2’s Marston Box bridge into place over the M42 during the Christmas period. The dramatic operation took 48 hours, at a speed of four metres per hour, from 24-26 December during a 10-day closure of the motorway between junctions J9 and J10 (northbound and southbound).

Over the past six months, the giant 86-metre-long structure was constructed on land next to the motorway. The structure, developed by a design joint venture of Mott MacDonald and SYSTRA, working on behalf of Balfour Beatty VINCI, has a base, three walls and top slab. While the sliding mechanism, designed by specialist civil and structural engineering company Freyssinet, allowed the box to be pushed into place over the motorway on a guiding raft over a distance of 165m – which is believed to be the world’s longest box slide.

On completion, the whole structure will total around 190 metres in length and will carry HS2 over the motorway as it heads north to Crewe, or on its southward journey as it loops into Birmingham Curzon Street or continues straight on to Interchange Station in Solihull, Old Oak Common Station and London Euston. 

£2bn tidal barrier scheme unveiled across the Wash between Lincolnshire and Norfolk

Plans for a £2bn hydro-electric dam laid across the Wash between Gibraltar Point and Hunstanton have been revealed by its developers, Centre Port Holdings. The plans, which have won a six-figure investment from energy firm Centrica, would generate tidal energy while protecting homes and businesses from flooding. It would also provide a new dual carriageway, rail infrastructure, and the world’s first tidal-powered deep-sea container port.

The 17.7km barrier, named Centre Port UK, would be the first of its kind in the UK, with up to 15 tidal turbines beneath the structure harnessing tidal energy from the Wash’s 780km2 tidal area – enough to power around 600,000 homes and businesses in the region.

The proposed tidal power plant, the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon, would have been the first of its kind in the world, when it was approved in 2018, however, government funding was withdrawn due to value-for-money concerns. 

Low-carbon concrete trial extended

An industry-first low carbon concrete trial is to be extended to permanent roads. It follows a year-long trial by Skanska, alongside the National Composites Centre, Tarmac, Basalt Technologies and National Highways, on reinforced concrete solution.

The results showed that the solution led to a reduction of more than 50% in carbon. It has also proven equally as resilient when compared to conventional reinforced concrete using steel. It proved such a success that Skanska is now working collaboratively with National Highways and HS2 on the next phase. The plan is to trial the low carbon combination on a permanent road and capture all the data and analysis for future publication. The ultimate aim is to roll out the low carbon solution across the UK’s strategic road network. 

Bridges reconstructed on A31 Ringwood

VolkerFitzpatrick has completed works on the A31 Ringwood widening and bridge replacement scheme for National Highways.

The project, near the New Forest in Hampshire, is a part of National Highways £8.7bn regional delivery partnership.

Works started in March to widen the westbound A31 from two lanes to three between the Ringwood and Verwood junctions and included the removal and reconstruction of two bridges over the River Avon and Bickerley Mill Stream. 

Students uninterested in careers in sectors crucial to UK’s net zero ambitions

A survey of nearly 4,000 16-23-year-old students has found that sectors including construction, utilities and transport rank poorly as those which appeal to the UK’s future workforce. The survey suggested a possible shortfall in jobs across key sectors which have an important role to play in delivering net zero.

Published by WSP alongside SavantaComRes about the UK’s green transition, the research shows that nearly two-fifths of students (37%) would not consider a career in construction, while over a fifth (22%) would not consider a career in either utilities or transport.

These figures contrast with students’ impressions of which sectors are most important in helping the UK reach its net zero emissions targets, with utilities (24%) and transport (13%) ranking highest. Only half of the students (50%) think their generation can have a high impact on tackling issues surrounding the environment and climate change.

With 75% of students agreeing that they would like or would have liked to learn more about climate, sustainability and environmental-related topics at school. When asked about their own education whilst at school, just over half of students (54%) say they learned about the topics of sustainability, climate change and the natural environment through taught lessons. 

France passes legislation for all large car parks to be covered by solar panels

New legislation approved by the French Senate as part of president Emmanuel Macron’s renewable energy drive will require all large car parks in France to be covered by solar panels. It will see the owners of car parks with between 80 and 400 spaces given five years to comply with the measures, while operators of those with more than 400 will have just three years. It is believed it could generate up to 11GW of power. 

Ukraine bids for World Expo 2030

Ukraine has launched a bid to host the 2030 World Expo in the southern port city of Odesa. The bid has been submitted with the intention to provide a forum to raise investment to rebuild the nation’s shattered infrastructure during its war with Russia.

The team behind the bid has called on Zaha Hadid Architects to design a series of renewable energy source-powered pavilions, constructed from recycled materials and debris.

Member states of the World Expo governing body, the Bureau International des Expositions, will elect the host in November 2023. 

Engineering Talent Awards 2023

Nominations are now open for the EqualEngineers Engineering Talent Awards 2023. Now in its fourth year, the awards celebrates the diversity of the engineering and technology profession and aims to raise the profile of the engineering and technology professionals and organisations across the UK on a national platform through EqualEngineers’ media partnership with the Metro. The awards are free to enter and shortlisted nominees receive a complimentary ticket to the ceremony in London on Friday 8 September 2023.

To enter visit http://bit.ly/EngTalentAwards. Entries close 5 pm on 17 February. 

ICON awarded a 57.2m NASA contract to develop a lunar 3D printing construction system

ICON, a company that specialises in additive manufacturing construction technologies and large-scale 3D printing, has been awarded a $57.2m contract under Phase III of NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programme. The contract builds upon previous NASA and Department of Defence funding for ICON’s ‘Project Olympus’ to develop 3D-printing technology to build roads, launchpads and homes on the moon’s surface. Its goal is to develop space-based construction systems primarily using local lunar and martian resources as building materials to further efforts to establish a sustained lunar presence and support planned exploration of the moon and beyond. 

Call for speakers at Digital Construction Week and Geo Business

On 17-18 May 2023 at ExCeL London, Digital Construction Week and Geo Business will return with all the tech and tools solving the built environment’s most pressing challenges, as well as bringing the geospatial community together all under one roof. Thousands of the brightest minds attend the events each year to learn, discuss ideas and connect in-person and now there is the chance to be part of the conversation, by applying to speak at the 2023 shows.

Taking part will give speakers the chance to raise their profile, share their knowledge and place themselves in front of a ready-to-learn and engaged audience looking to shape the future of the industry. The events teams are looking for passionate and knowledgeable speakers to share case studies, research projects, debates, workshops, live demos, how-to guides, examples of best practice, new technologies and new ideas. Talks could cover a range of hot topics and industry trends, including modular building and 3D modelling, for DCW, for example, and reality capture and AEC workflows for Geo Business.

The deadline for applications is Friday 17 February through the application form found via each event website: www.digitalconstructionweek.com/call-for-speakers and www.geobusinessshow.com/call-for-speakers. 

Remote aerial operations developed by Fugro

Fugro is partnering with Australian drone manufacturer, Carbonix to establish a new long-range drone capability. It is Fugro’s first partnership working towards long-range beyond visual line of sight missions (BVLoS), bolstering Fugro’s existing geographic information system capability.

Carbonix will supply Volanti and Ottano vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drones over the next 27 months, to further enhance Fugro’s remote operations.

It will support Fugro’s Australian long-range maritime and land projects from the sky using aerial surveying and data capture technology, while integrating with Fugro’s remote operation centres. 

 

 

Competition to design a new CPK airport in Poland won by a British-based consortium

A Foster + Partners and Buro Happold consortium has won the competition to design the new Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) airport transfer hub between Warsaw and Lodz.

The project will act as a symbolic gateway to Poland, a 21st-century transport interchange which brings together air, rail and road, while reflecting the country’s national identity.

The vision includes a landside interchange plaza filled with natural light and acts as the focal point. It will also support the shift towards more efficient and sustainable means of travel. 

UK government pushes back UKCA marking system by two and a half years

The UK Government’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has finally confirmed to the construction industry that it will recognise the CE product marking in Great Britain for a further two years. It follows previous confirmation to other industries.

The post-Brexit UKCA marking system, which finds products illegal to sell on the UK market unless they have been tested in this country first, will now not be required for construction products until 30 June 2025. 

Breakthrough graphene-enhanced concrete to advance construction methods UK-based company

Nationwide Engineering Research and Development (NERD) has raised £8m to develop a new breakthrough graphene-enhanced concrete. Known as concretene, the added graphene enables better bonding in the concrete, resulting in a 30-50 % stronger product than standard concrete. It has been developed by NERD, a company founded by Nationwide Engineering Group, in partnership with the University of Manchester’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), with the goal of creating a stronger and more sustainable product than traditional concrete.

Concrete is the most widely used building material, accounting for 8-10 % of global CO2. Concretene’s design for use in the construction industry will provide a viable CO2 reduction technology that can be easily adopted internationally into the industry with minimal change to existing processes. 

Maxar’s year in review 2022

2022 has been a particularly busy year with historic events, and significant change and activity around the world. Maxar has assembled several dozen of their compelling satellite images from the year from roughly 450 miles above the Earth to keep us informed.

Top row L-R: Winter Olympics opening ceremony in China on 4 February 2022; protests against COVID policies for truckers in Canada on 29 January 2022, nighttime parade preparations in North Korea on 9 April 2022.

Middle row L-R: Burning Man Festival in Nevada, USA on 29 August 2022; the International Space Station on 10 September 2022; damage to Fort Myers Beach in Florida, USA in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on 30 September 2022.

Bottom row L-R: Crowds before Queen Elizabeth II funeral on 17 September 2022; nighttime at Qatar World Cup Al Bayt Stadium on 20 November 2022; aftermath od Russian airstrike on Maruipol theatre in Ukraine on 22 March 2022. 

Spring tender for Femern Fehmarnbelt rail works

By 2029, Germany and Denmark will be linked by the world’s largest immersed road-rail tunnel known as the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link.

Stretching 11.1 miles long and costing $7.1bn, the tunnel will connect Germany’s Fehmarn island to the Danish island of Lolland to just a 10-minute drive between the two locations.

The latest update is that Femern will tender a tunnel track and catenary contract for the Fehmarnbelt tunnel.

The contract is expected to be worth around €200 million.

 

New sensor can prevent major structural defects from reaching dangerous level

Researchers at Bournemouth University have developed a new corrosion sensor that could improve the safety and reliability of large structures such as bridges, aircraft, military vehicles and gas pipelines. The device can detect defects and risks in major infrastructure at a much earlier stage than the methods that are currently used. As well as improving safety, it could reduce the need for time-consuming and costly repairs, as well as inconvenience to industries and the public. 

In brief:

• Balfour Beatty has signed a memorandum of understanding with Holtec Britain to support the planning advancement for the construction of Holtec’s SMR-160 pressurised light-water reactors in the UK. Once approved, the reactors will play a key role in the UK government’s energy security strategy delivery to target five gigawatts of clean electricity to the National Grid by 2050. 
• Germany-based Einstein Industries Ventures has entered a partnership with the European Space Agency to raise €300 million to invest in Europe’s leading growth-stage new space downstream technologies, Earth observation and sensor technology.
• Laing O’Rourke has appointed Chetan Kotur as head of technology and innovation for its Europe hub. The appointment looks to increase the company’s development and deployment of new technologies focus with the potential to transform construction productivity and deliver improvements to project programme, quality, safety and sustainability. 
• Per Skoglund takes over as the new CEO of FVB Sverige AB this year. He has been the deputy CEO since 2017 and is succeeding Leif Breitholtz.
• The first-ever vehicle-independent mobile mapping system has been officially approved by the German national railway company Deutsche Bahn. The Trimble MX9 Mobile Mapping system has been certified for surveying tracks, points, clearances, and topographic objects.
• The Ipsos Veracity Index, the longest-running poll on trust in professions in Britain, has revealed in this year’s poll that engineers, alongside nurses and doctors are in the top three professions most trusted to tell the truth in Britain in 2022.
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded Fugro two mapping projects on the US Gulf Coast to monitor and quantify shoreline change in this flood-prone region.
• Latest figures from the Health and Safety Executive reveal the construction industry is losing more than two million working days each year due to work-related health problems.