Civils

Stay ahead of your competitors with the latest news, opinion and analysis of civil engineering projects worked on by UK construction contractors.

Firms sought for £400m highway-upgrade framework

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Firms have been alerted to an updated public sector framework, with £400m worth of work available, to upgrade highway infrastructure in the East of England. Central Bedfordshire Council is leading the procurement of contractors for the fourth iteration of the Eastern Highways Alliance (EHA), which is made up of 10…

TechFest 2023 shortlist revealed

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The shortlist for TechFest Awards 2023 has been revealed. In total, 115 entries have been shortlisted across 18 categories recognising the achievements of the construction and civil engineering industries in harnessing the potential of technological innovation. Firms in the Mott MacDonald family lead the nominations – the firm itself has…

Infrastructure drives sector growth in June

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Construction output grew for the first time in four months in June, new figures show. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows a 1.6 per cent increase in volumes in the month, following three successive months of falls. New infrastructure work grew by 4.7 per cent in the…

Revealed: Costain tops National Highways contractor spend

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Costain was the largest recipient of National Highways spending in each of the last two financial years, Construction News can reveal. The contractor and consultant was paid £522.4m by the government-owned roads body in 2022/23,£129.74m more than its nearest rival – Connect Plus, a consortium including Balfour Beatty – a…

Ten builders picked for £10bn electricity transmission framework

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Balfour Beatty has been selected as one of 10 preferred bidders on SSEN Transmission's £10bn onshore transmission framework. The other preferred bidders are: a joint venture between Siemens Energy and Bam; J Murphy & Sons; Wood Power Solutions; a joint venture between Omexom and Morgan Sindall Infrastructure; Burns & McDonnell;…

VolkerFitzpatrick wins £19m Surrey bridge contract

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VolkerFitzpatrick has been awarded a £19m contract to build a highway bridge over a rail line in Surrey. The Ash Road Bridge project will allow for the decommissioning of a level crossing on the A323 Guildford Road ahead of increased rail use on the North Downs line. The Ash Level…

Euston HS2 station ‘could be cut to just seven platforms’

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Contractors have demanded urgent clarity after a leaked report revealed that the Euston terminus of High Speed 2 (HS2) could be reduced to just seven platforms. An internal document drawn up by HS2 Ltd lists several options for cutting costs on the troubled central London station scheme, according to the…

Mace calls for construction export tax credits

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Mace has called on the government to offer tax credits to companies exporting design, engineering and construction services. The contractor, which operates in five continents, says in a new report that the global market for British construction expertise could be worth £11.5bn, if construction’s share of UK exports were to…

Government told to prioritise road maintenance over expansion

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An influential group of MPs has called on the Department for Transport (DfT) to “prioritise strategic road maintenance over enhancements”. In a report published on Thursday (27 July), the House of Commons Transport Committee said the government should ensure that future road-investment strategy (RIS) portfolios are deliverable, “given increasing costs…

Bam to co-deliver £2bn ‘electricity superhighway’

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Bam has been chosen to build converter stations at each end of a £2bn undersea “electricity superhighway” between Scotland and England. The planned Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) connection between Peterhead in Aberdeenshire and Drax in North Yorkshire is described by National Grid as the UK’s largest ever electricity-transmission project.…