Buildings

Proposals for a new hospital in County Durham could move forward after Ben Houchen was re-elected as Tees Valley mayor. Conservative politician Houchen secured his third term in the post after running on a platform including a pledge to replace the University Hospital of North Tees. Houchen has pledged to…

A north-east London hospital the government promised would be built by 2030 is set to miss the deadline, a project boss has admitted. It is now “highly unlikely” construction will start on the new Whipps Cross Hospital before 2025 and finish before the end of the decade as previously expected,…

Cumbrian firm Stobbarts has won a £40m infrastructure deal at Sellafield nuclear power station. The Workington firm will support Sir Robert McAlpine on groundworks and concrete jobs at the sprawling Cumbrian plant. The contractor was appointed by Sellafield’s Programme and Project Partners (PPP), a coalition of Kellogg Brown and Root,…

Bam Construction has confirmed that an air conditioning failure that scuppered this week’s opening concert at its Manchester Co-Op Live arena was unrelated to a previously-discovered issue with ductwork. The Co-op Live arena called off Wednesday night’s (1 May) scheduled Boogie Wit Da Hoodie show after part of an air…

Bam Construction discovered ductwork problems at its thrice-delayed £365m Manchester arena project during acoustic tests last month, Construction News can reveal. A letter to council officers flagging the issue has come to light, hours after a separate air conditioning failure last night caused the last-minute cancellation of its third attempt…

National Grid has appointed five contractors including Laing O’Rourke and Morgan Sindall to deliver £9bn of work on its major upgrade of the electricity network. Morrison Energy Services, Murphy and a joint venture of Vinci subsidiaries Taylor Woodrow and Omexom complete the construction team for the Great Grid Partnership. They…

A group of local authorities is looking for contractors for £800m of roads-related construction work. Central Bedfordshire Council published a formal procurement notice for the Eastern Highways Alliance Framework 4. The deal will cover structural, surfacing, road and capital projects across 11 local authority areas. Work going through the framework…

Willmott Dixon’s repairs and maintenance business Fortem has extended its partnership with Birmingham City Council by two years. The two-year extension will be worth £170m and takes the partnership length to 18 years in total. Fortem will continue to deliver repairs, maintenance and gas services to homes in the city.…

A local authority faces the prospect of having to change its main contractor on a residential scheme for a second time after the replacement firm announced it was suffering severe financial problems. Last month, client Wokingham Borough Council announced that Osborne would take over a 55-home development called Carnival Place…

A new framework for the decarbonisation and retrofit of social housing and public sector buildings has opened for applications from contractors today (29 April). For the Retrofit and Decarbonisation (N9) framework, LHC Procurement Group is looking for consultants and specialists in energy efficiency, heating and ventilation, renewable energy, charging points and…