Civils

Helena Rivers is net-zero lead for buildings and places at consultancy Aecom The National Infrastructure Commission’s (NIC) recent assessment of how infrastructure could support economic growth and tackle climate change made a bold statement. In essence, it recommended that the government should no longer pursue the rollout of hydrogen heating…

Paul Cannaby is director of civil engineering at construction consultancy Pick Everard Recent years have seen an increase in weather extremes, with severe droughts and major flooding in the UK and globally due to climate change. This necessitates strengthening flood resilience but it’s not all about large-scale infrastructure – there…

Tristan Hughes is business unit manager at water-service provider OSSO The UK experiences the fifth-largest average precipitation in Europe. While frequently complained about, the steady supply of rainfall is critical for the country’s water supply. But it also poses major challenges. The duty of care for any construction firm or…

Rotating the UK’s biggest tunnel-borer 180 degrees is no mean feat – but it means only one machine is needed and the job will get done a lot quicker. Joshua Stein reports on the Silvertown Tunnel project Rotating the UK’s biggest tunnel-boring machine (TBM) 180 degrees may seem like a…

Crossing a busy road and several waterways, building HS2’s Colne Valley Viaduct has prompted some novel approaches. Ben Vogel finds out how the Align JV is taking on the challenge Project: Colne Valley Viaduct and Chiltern Tunnels, both part of HS2 Phase One Central 1 (C1) Client: HS2 C1 overall…

As the investigation into the deaths of four men at a decommissioned power station enters its eighth year, Ian Weinfass speaks to some of those still affected by the tragedy and asks why the industry has received no guidance since Sadie Cresswell has been waiting for seven years to find…

Nick Gray is COO at Currie & Brown Infrastructure investment is a key lever for boosting the UK economy, so the chancellor’s recent commitment to HS2 being delivered in full is welcome news. However, between soaring inflation, supply-chain uncertainty, and the threat of an economic recession, infrastructure as a whole,…

Time-consuming, slow and expensive, tunnelling can delay and increase the costs of construction schemes – as seen with megaprojects such as Crossrail. Is there a better way of doing things? A way to avoid the pitfalls of previous projects and increase efficiency and speed? And are robots the answer? The…

The outlook for the year ahead changed dramatically towards the end of 2022 – from optimism and expected growth to worries about material costs and inflation. The last couple of months of the year saw a raft of gloomy forecasts about the state of the construction industry in 2023, with…

The year got off to a bumpy start with a major contractor going under in January. But there was better news for those eyeing up nuclear builds. Here are the stories that Construction News readers flocked to read in 2022. 10. Boost for Rolls-Royce’s Snowdonia nuclear plans In mid-October, Rolls-Royce’s…