As the first anniversary of work on the U.K.’s 225-km London-Birmingham high-speed railroad (HS2) is reached, news of a major bentonite leak of more than 1,500 cu m at the project’s first tunnel has revived opposition to the project.

Over the summer, BP marked the safe start-up of the Manuel project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the fourth of five major projects the energy company expects to deliver globally in 2021.

Work is underway by Mortenson to repower the 60-MW Oasis wind farm in Mojave, Calif., for renewable energy developer and operator Terra-Gen. After acquiring the plant in 2019, Terra-Gen brought in Mortenson as its construction partner to repower the facility, which first operated in 2004. 

As part of an overall strategy to relieve congestion and expand mobility options in Santa Barbara County, Calif., Granite Construction is serving as construction manager for Caltrans’ upgrade of a 10.8-mile segment of U.S. Route 101 between the cities of Santa Barbara and Carpinteria.

Skanska will break ground this fall on a nine-story office tower in Arlington, Va. The building will feature 191,000 sq ft of office space and 10,000 sq ft of retail space.

San Francisco Dept. of Building Inspection advises the Millennium Tower homeowners association to “refrain from resuming” the pile foundation retrofit for the settling 645-ft-tall condominium until a new approach to the fix is reviewed by the city.

Last year, as the pandemic upended the construction industry, contractors hatched a plan to come together. Determined to keep jobsites open and deemed essential around the U.S., a group of contractors partnered on turnkey coronavirus prevention protocols for all companies to use.