Related Links: In Surprise, Fluor Loses Arbitration Over U.K. Wind Farm Claim U.S.-based Fluor Corp. has settled long-standing claims and counterclaims worth hundreds of million of dollars over faulty foundations at the 500-MW, $1.8-billion Greater Gabbard wind farm, sited 25 kilometers off the east coast of England.Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.Farm owner Greater Gabbard Offshore Winds Ltd., which was embroiled in a long-running legal dispute with Fluor, has confidence in the disputed foundations' “long-term structural integrity."The wind-farm developer is co-owned by Scottish utility SSE plc. and the U.K. unit of Germany's RWE Innogy GmbH.“Fluor designed and built a
Related Links: Website of Mott MacDonald U.K. Designer Scoops Gem of a Deal in Dubai Acquisitions in Brazil and South Africa in April by London-based design firm Mott MacDonald Group are raising the company's profile in two of the world's fastest-growing regions.Growth, either bought or organic, is important for Mott, which is still several thousand staff below the critical mass required to continue competing globally in the long term, believes Chairman Keith Howells.HowellsWith the new acquisitions, Mott boosts its global payroll by nearly 700 staff, to about 15,700. Group staff numbers have been fairly steady since the financial crisis. The
Photo by Charles Crowell/BloombergBusinessweek CH2M Hill will manage seawater injection project in Iraq to enhance oil recovery near Basra, site of a key shipping terminal. With the integration of London-based design firm Halcrow Group into its organization following a 2011 acquisition, CH2M Hill Cos., Denver, said on April 3 that it now plans to hire 500 engineers in the U.K.CH2M Hill says Great Britain is now the firm's largest overseas market and, along with the Middle East, a key target area for growth.The new U.K.-based recruits will work in CH2M Hill's infrastructure units—including nuclear, transportation, tunneling, water and environmental services—as
Photo Courtesy of SMBMS A new dam and bridge will preserve an island encompassing a historic abbey off the coast of France. Photo Courtesy of SMBMS Related Links: Mont St. Michel Official Site Perched on a rock off France's northern coast and resembling a castle out of a fairy tale, the Benedictine abbey of Mont Saint-Michel is receiving modern-day engineering reinforcements against encroaching salt marshes. The $270-million project, including a new river dam and an unobtrusive steelwork bridge to replace a nineteenth-century causeway, aims to mitigate environmental harm rendered by decades of siltation.Located on a UNESCO World Heritage site, the
Photo courtesy of Karl Tuplin/BAS Responsive to moving ice, hydraulic legs on skis allow the modules for the British Antarctic Survey's latest Halley station to be raised and towed across the Brunt Ice Shelf. Related Links: Discovering Antarctica Website Halley Research Station Website Building the British Antarctic Survey's newly commissioned research station in one of the remotest, coldest spots on earth was every bit as tough as it sounds.A short, nine-week construction season, bitter weather and tortuous supply lines were always on the daily management agenda. An unwelcome surprise arrived when cracks appeared in the first module of the Halley
Related Links: Floating Bridge Replacement Work Under Way Near Seattle Norwegian Public Roads Administration A 4-kilometer-long floating bridge, which would break the current world record by 2,754 meters, and the first floating tunnel, also 4 km, are among a series of remarkable highway structures, estimated to cost $24.5 billion, planned along more than 1,000 km of Norway’s E39 coastal highway.Government engineers studying the fixed crossings of seven fjords, which are too wide and deep for conventional structures, say the project is likely to push the boundaries of bridge design well beyond current limits.The structures would eliminate seven ferry crossings of
Cylindrical Tokamak reactor will include some 60,000 cast-in-place elements (above). Work is under way at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor in France by a VINCI-led consortium (below). Related Links: In a Test of Technology, the Largest-Ever Fusion Reactor Rises in France International Program Aims To Develop Energy Supply Without Limit Contractors for the main buildings to house the next generation of nuclear-fusion research are due this month to start receiving final designs, allowing construction to start on the 42-hectare French site this fall. The roughly $410-million contract was signed in December. Now, the main concern for the team delivering the
Courtesy BNFL Sellafield complex has some 200 building scheduled for decommissioning. Related Links: URS-Led Team Assumes Control Of U.K.s Sellafield Nuclear Site Owner Separates From Building Team Fees paid by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to the U.S.-led consortium managing decommissioning the U.K.'s giant Sellafield nuclear facility is not “a good deal” for British taxpayers, claims a new report by the influential parliamentary Public Accounts Committee. The average cost charged last year by the Nuclear Management Partners consortium for 16 executives reached $1.1 million with the highest earner costing the NDA $1.9 million. Nuclear Management Partners is effectively winding down remaining operations
John Armitt had run major contractors, pioneered the U.K.'s first high-speed-rail system and steered the national railroad infrastructure company out of bankruptcy when a headhunter tempted him to be chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, charged with building all infrastructure and facilities for London's 2012 Olympic
Photo by Peter Reina Damaged tower crane dangling after crash. Photo by Peter Reina Related Links: Helicopter Strikes Tower Crane at London High-Rise Project Agusta 109 Helicopter Accident specialists with the U.K. government have launched investigations into the early morning Jan. 16 helicopter crash into a crane attached to a 180-meter-tall residential building under construction in central London. Both the helicopter pilot and a man in the street were killed. Six days after the accident, the building contractor started removing the damaged crane and ordered a replacement to complete the Tower, One St George Wharf project later this year.The twin-engine