Civils

Network Rail chief executive Sir Andrew Haines has said he expects the second year of the body’s £45bn five-year funding cycle will go “more smoothly”. It comes after industry figures expressed dissatisfaction at the speed in which rail work was flowing through to suppliers. Earlier this year, a number of…

Hinkley Point C tunnelling crews cancelled a planned strike this week after they were promised more than £2m in repayment of taxes deducted from their wages. Members of the GMB and Unite trade unions working at TG Tunnelling accepted a pay offer from the company, meaning plans for a walkout…

The government is set to outline its approach to private investment in major construction projects in its upcoming 10-year infrastructure strategy, a senior cabinet minister has said. A chapter in the strategy document, due in June, will outline the government’s approach to attracting private capital across civils projects, housing and…

Reforms to fast track major projects will see the creation of an infrastructure board within the government's environment department and a single lead regulator to facilitate the delivery of major projects. The government announced the measures in response to a wide-ranging review of environmental regulations to “accelerate the delivery” of…

OCU Modus has been ordered to pay more than £2.6m after a High Court judge found a firm it bought two years ago was liable for defects in underground cables installed to connect a solar farm project. A judge at the Technology and Construction Court last week found in favour…

Technology is changing. And so is Construction News. Our editorial team has been using artificial intelligence (AI) behind the scenes for some time now to summarise long reports and data as part of our research process, as well as produce some illustrations. But we have not used it to produce…

The cost of a long-delayed bypass in Somerset is expected to top £105m – £40m above the original estimate – after fresh risks to the scheme were identified. North Somerset Council is set to approve an extra £14.5m for the Banwell bypass at a meeting next week, which is also…

Balfour Beatty will not seek a main contractor role in the rejigged £37bn New Hospital Programme (NHP), its outgoing chief executive Leo Quinn has said. Last month, NHS England said it was seeking 10 contractors to join the Hospital 2.0 Alliance (H2A) framework to deliver 34 new or redeveloped hospitals…

The £9bn Lower Thames Crossing road project has been greenlit after two and a half years in limbo. Transport secretary Heidi Alexander today (25 March) granted development consent to the UK’s largest ever road tunnel, which will connect Kent and Essex. The decision was originally due last June but had…

Government departments were lining up contractors to replace ISG months before it collapsed last September, a report has revealed. The National Audit Office (NAO) said ministers learned from the collapse of Carillion in 2018, when public money had to be pumped into finishing hospital projects started by the failed giant.…