Civils

Some £190m was wasted on TransPennine Route design plans and project options that were not used, a new report has revealed. A National Audit Office (NAO) probe into work to upgrade 76 miles of railway between Manchester and York, via Huddersfield and Leeds, found that £1bn was spent on the…

A Kier/Bam joint venture (KBJV) has been awarded a major civils contract at Plymouth’s Devonport 10 Dock. Babcock International has appointed the contract to the companies as part of a series of infrastructure projects at the naval facility over the next decade, which are worth about £2bn in total. KBJV…

British rail-track workers’ safety has improved, with no fatalities on the mainline network in the last year, the Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) annual health and safety report has found. It said ‘red zone’ working, which compromises work done on live train lines, almost ended with a 98 per…

National Highways has demanded that its tier one contractors submit details of their anti-fraud policies as part of a crackdown on suspected malpractice on its contracts.  Malcolm Dare, executive director for commercial and procurement at National Highways, has given contractors two weeks to submit evidence of their own internal safeguards…

Balfour Beatty has rolled out a set of automated cone-laying machines (ACLM), which it says will reduce the dangers faced by construction workers. The vehicles will be able to collect or lay out traffic cones in under ten seconds per cone, replacing the need for workers to handle the cones…

The government has delayed its decision on a planning application for the Sizewell C nuclear plant again. An update on the project – proposed by French energy giant EDF – was set to be shared today (8 July). However, business minister Paul Scully revealed yesterday that a decision on whether…

The final phase of a £133m road project in Lincolnshire has hit a construction hurdle, which is expected to delay its delivery and drive up costs. Galliford Try’s highway business was appointed to work on the third phase of the Grantham Southern Relief Road in 2021. The final phase, valued…

Regional transport chiefs have set out plans for an underground rail line connecting Portsmouth and Southampton as part of a £45bn spending spree. Transport for the South East’s (TfSE) draft strategic investment plan outlined proposals for the new link between the two coastal cities. Despite being less than 30km apart,…

Civils contractor Marlborough Highways has clinched a £32m contract to maintain North London’s highways. The specialist firm, which works mainly in the South East, was awarded the five-year Term Service Highway Works Contract by the London Borough of Islington. It will be worth about £4.6m per year, with the potential…

The Department for Transport (DfT) has given the green light to the £166m restoration of a rail line in Northumberland. Transport secretary Grant Shapps has approved a Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) for the scheme, which allows 17 miles of the Northumberland Line to be upgraded and restored, along…