Nuclear powerplant development in the U.K. and U.S. is moving forward with vigor. In the U.K., imminent eBay-style land sales will lead to the first major financial commitments by power companies in the nation’s emerging nuclear-plant program. In the U.S., the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is processing 17 applications for 26 possible new nuclear powerplants even as new questions arise over whether the government’s Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste repository will ever open. Photo: NDA Greenfield site next to NDA’s Bradwell powerplant is being auctioned for new units. Construction of a fleet of new plants in the U.K. is not expected to start
A U.S.-led joint venture that includes AECOM and CH2M Hill beat two other short-listed teams headed by Bechtel Ltd. and by Parsons Brinckerhoff Ltd. to win an estimated $140-million program management contract for London�s vast new Crossrail project. The project cost has been put at an estimated $22 billion. The winning team, called Transcend, will "work along side [us] as part of an integrated client team to manage the overall programme," says Steve Rowsell, head of procurement for project owner Cross London Rail Links Ltd. Transcend also includes U.K.-based Nichols Group Ltd. Primary construction on the estimated $22-billion project is
Progress on two major European skyscrapers may not represent the green shoots of economic recovery, but they help lighten the gloom. In London, pile work is due to start mid-month on the 310-m-tall "Shard," planned as Europe�s second-tallest building. And workers in Frankfurt are beginning to mobilize the planned Tower 185. Photo: Vivico Real Estate Workers begin mobilizing for Frankfurt Tower 185. Photo: London Bridge Quarter Ltd. If London's 310-m-tall "Shard" moves forward, it could Europe's second tallest building. With Middle Eastern backing, London Bridge Quarter Ltd., recently signed a construction contract with local Mace Ltd. for the estimated $1.5-billion
Officials suspect work on a new 3.9-km metro line as the most likely cause of the early afternoon collapse of the city’s historical archive building in Cologne, Germany, on March 3. Buildings adjacent to the six-floor archive structure, which was erected in 1971, were demolished. By the morning of March 4, two people were thought missing, though no injuries had been reported. A Cologne city hall spokesman says the collapse occurred over a few minutes as ground beneath the archive caved in. The buildings were some 20 meters above new twin tunnels of Cologne Transport Company’s (KVB) North-South line, due
Tekla Corp. may lack the global recognition of its fellow Finn Nokia, but in the 3D-modeling software world it is every bit as familiar. Having cut its teeth in steel fabrication, the Espoo-based firm spread into engineering design and now offers modeling to construction managers. Related Links: Software Firms See User Needs Driving New Development Digital-Modeling-Standard Effort ‘SOS’ Tekla’s launch of worksite-management software began 18 months ago in Finland, where Tiina Koppinen was an early user. “It is a very important step to take modeling to the site,” says Koppinen, a project manager helping develop building information modeling at Skanska
The British may not be as courteous as they are sometimes credited, but their contractors seem to be an increasingly considerate bunch. A scheme to turn jobsites into good neighbors is fast covering the country and is attracting interest from builders across the Atlantic. The Considerate Constructors Scheme "has been extremely successful and it pays for itself," says Richard Anderson, president of the New York Building Congress, who likes the program. CCS is voluntary and covers over 34,000 U.K. sites pledged to follow behavioral guidelines. Until this recession, "We grew at 30% a year for ten years", says Chief Executive
As construction jobs tumble in the credit crisis, thousands of U.K. workers downed tools recently to protest the use of foreign crews on a $290-million refinery project on England’s east coast. Unofficial supportive action spread from the Lindsey refinery in North Killingholme to unrelated powerplants and even the Sellafield nuclear fuel facility. Underlying the dispute at the oil refinery, owned by Total U.K. Ltd., are growing concerns that Europe’s free market is working against British workers’ interests. What triggered the unofficial Lindsey strike was December’s arrival of a Sicilian specialty firm on the refinery’s desulfurization project. Main contractor Jacobs Engineering
Roof construction on the $720-million London 2012 Olympic Stadium began in late January when the first section went up. The U.K.’s Olympic Delivery Authority claims to be on track, but the global banking crisis is spoiling its party. The organization can’t secure as much private funding toward the $13.3-billion construction budget as forecast. Photo: ODA Game venues are on schedule but private money is tight for residential village. Game venues in the London Olympic Park are on schedule, says ODA. But funding negotiations with Australia’s Lend Lease Corp. for the public-private Olympic Village "are continuing," says David Higgins, ODA’s chief
Thousands of British workers put down their tools recently to protest the use of foreign crews on a $290-million refinery project on the English east coast. The strikes, an unofficial message of support for the refinery protest, spread from the Lindsey refinery, North Killingholme, to unrelated powerplants and even the Sellafield nuclear fuel facility in Cumbria. Underlying the dispute at the oil refinery, owned by Total U.K. Ltd., are growing concerns that Europe’s free market is working against British workers’ interests. What triggered the Lindsey unofficial strike was December’s arrival of a Sicilian specialty firm on the refinery’s HDS-3 de-sulfurization
Roof construction of the $720 million London 2012 Olympic stadium began in late January when the first section went up and the Olympic Delivery Authority claims to be on track. All venues in the east London Olympic Park are on schedule, claims ODA. But the global banking crisis is spoiling its party. The ODA can’t secure as much private funding towards the $13.3 billion overall construction budget as forecast. Stadium construction project for London Olympics remains on time. The Olympic Village, a public private partnership, is worst hit. Funding negotiations for Village construction with Australia-based Lend Lease Corporation “are continuing,”
