Welcome to the Friday Feed, our rundown of this week’s construction news
🚉 Rail
In their review of the government’s first 18 months, the Railway Industry Association has warned that despite making some progress on rail reform, the supply sector will be left stranded unless there are changes made to the timetabling and investment signals. Elsewhere, a new government plan has been unveiled to boost economic growth in the North of England. To support this investment, the chancellor has placed the £45m Northern Powerhouse Rail at the centre of the programme of the investment programme. Lastly, due to unforeseen budget constraints Network Rail are preparing a significant amount of layoffs. Staff will be informed of the specifics later this month.
🛫 Ports and Aviation
Funding has been approved by Heathrow Airport to commence the planning application for its plan to develop a third runway. Elsewhere, a judicial review in opposition to the Chartham docks business park has been dismissed. This will involve the removal of the current industrial site and the development of new office space to attract white collar workers to the area.
⚡Energy
Revised plans have been published by National Grid for the Lion Link. The planned underground and subsea interconnector would link a cross-border transmission and an offshore windfarm between the UK and the Netherlands. Elsewhere, Root – Power has secured planning permission to build a £45m renewable energy storage facility in Leicestershire, with the new battery energy storage system connecting directly to local grid infrastructure. In other news, the latest renewables auction in the UK has secured 8.4GW of offshore wind development. This has set a new British and European record for the single largest procurement of its kind.
đźš— Roads
The Scottish Government has announced that the ÂŁ1.9bn A9 dualling project is being converted into a framework model for the final five contracts of the programme. These five parts of the project will cover the area between Perth and Inverness. The Scottish Government are commencing market engagement in February to then invite bids in March. In the aftermath of Storm Goretti calls have been made to improve the transport resilience of the country when at risk of weather based disruption. Following subsequent weekend closures, the M6 through Cumbria was reopened earlier than expected. The road was closed as contractor Skanska replaced the railway bridge near Penrith as part of a wider programme of upgrades to the West Coast Main Line.
🏠Property and development
In development news this week, two Premier League football clubs have made progress on plans to expand their stadiums. Crystal Palace has reached an agreement to purchase the six remaining houses which were proving an obstacle to redeveloping the main stand at Selhurst Park. Whilst up north, Leeds City Council has granted Leeds United planning permission to expand Elland Road to a capacity of 53,000. This will upgrade the stadium to UEFA category four status. Both of these project represent the large ambitions both clubs have going forward. Also in Leeds, local developers Pullas has secured planning approval for a new 256 Leeds student tower job in the city centre. They have appointed Mclaren Construction as primary contractor for the project. Ballymore has received planning consent for its redevelopment of their Thames Road site in Newham. The works will include the development of 1,685 new homes.
đź’§Water
Anglian Water has awarded contracts for two proposed desalination projects. The framework is valued at up to ÂŁ29m for the first initial five years, with the option to extend the contract for a further five years. The primary desalination technical partner is a Typsa-Stantec venture, whilst a second is headed by RSK and GHD. Lastly, Severn Trent is preparing to tender for the design and construction of a new wastewater treatment facility. This will be located near Norwich. The value of the job has not been disclosed but they are hoping for construction to begin in August and last for 12 months.
Don’t miss the latest construction news
Receive the Friday feed from Copper to discover the latest construction news. Covering rail, energy, roads, water, property development and more!
Sign up to the Friday Feed