Five European energy companies this month announced a joint-venture agreement to develop and build an electricity link under the North Sea between the U.K. and Norway. The NorthConnect joint venture aims to have the 1,200-MW to 2,000-MW power cable operational by 2020. The total length of the high-voltage, direct-current interconnector could measure from 350 miles to more than 400 miles, depending on the choice of the landing points. For the shortest link, Scotland is likely to be the preferred U.K. landfall, though other options will be studied during the next 12 to 18 months. The non-profit Scottish European Green Energy
The European Wind Energy Association is forecasting that up to 1,500 MW of offshore wind power will be connected to European national grids this year, continuing the region’s growth trend in offshore wind-power installations. + Image The association says offshore wind-power installations grew 51% to 883 MW last year from 582 MW in 2009, even though onshore wind-power installations (8.4 GW) were down 13.9% compared to the same kind of installations (9.7 GW) in 2009. However, monopiles are considered suitable in water depths up to about 30 meters. As wind farms are sited farther from shore, new styles of foundations
The U.K. government has come under fire for delaying implementation of tough new anti-graft legislation that had been due to take effect this April. But construction and other industry sectors welcome the government’s recently announced review of guidelines on how the law will be applied. “We are working on the guidance to make it practical and comprehensive,” says a Ministry of Justice spokesman. He would not speculate as to when the new guidance would be released but says the law will take effect three months after that. An anti-corruption advocate, Neill Stansbury supports the new construction rules. “We need to
As contractors start mobilizing to drive Crossrail’s twin tunnels, work on the railroad’s $795-million station at the Canary Wharf commercial district in east London is powering ahead. The six-floor-deep station is the largest of Crossrail’s nine. Image: Courtesy of Crossrail Crossrail’s Canary Wharf Station is being constructed along the River Thames. Related Links: First Bids Keep Crossrail Budget on Track Top-down construction is forming the station along the River Thames. The structure will extend 25 meters below the water level. Construction within a watertight cofferdam is scheduled to greet tunnel-boring machines in summer 2012. Canary Wharf Group plc., the project
With their bids coming in below original estimates, European and Irish contractors grabbed the lion’s share of nearly $2 billion in tunneling contracts to be let so far on London’s $23-billion Crossrail project. The four contracts are the first of nearly 30 that Crossrail officials expect to award in the next 11 months. + Image Map: Courtesy Crossrail Ltd. Crossrail Ltd. plans to award 30 contracts in the next year to construct the $23-billion London rail project. Related Links: At Canary Wharf, Key Rail Station Takes Shape Bids below the original estimates were a positive development for project managers, who
Transport Scotland expects to have bids for the estimated $2-billion cable-stayed bridge over the Firth of Forth waterway in hand by the end of January. The agency aims to award by April the 66-month, lump-sum design-build contract for the Forth Replacement Waterway Project. Photo: Transport Scotland The new Forth Replacement Waterway Project, when complete in 2016, will be the third major crossing over the Firth of Forth, near Edinburgh. Shown: The Forth Road Bridge, completed in the mid-1960s. Two teams of contractors were invited to bid for the fixed-price contract on Dec. 17, say Transport Scotland officials. Nearly 40 companies
As global interest in nuclear power grows, two major European design firms have joined forces to capture a share of the business. London-based W.S. Atkins plc. and Paris-based Assystem S.A. now are targeting international projects jointly while continuing to operate independently in their home markets. Based in France, the joint venture Nuclear Atkins Assystem Alliance (NAAA) claims that, drawing from the two companies, it will have access to 3,000 employees with market-relevant skills. NAAA executives believe that 30 countries are considering entry into the nuclear power market and that a similar number already have operational plants. Martin Grant, managing director
Following a recent report identifying potential infrastructure construction cost savings of 15% in the U.K., the government has pledged to draft an implementation plan by March. The report comes at a time when the government forecasts about $320 billion in all forms of infrastructure-investment demand over the next five years, as budgets for public spending are cut. The Infrastructure Cost Review, published on Dec. 21, says there is “a clear opportunity” to achieve savings of at least $31.9 billion to $47.9 billion over the next decade. The government’s Infrastructure UK body led the investigation, supported by the Institution of Civil
Large pneumatic bags designed to contain blasts from improvised explosive devices are finding a peaceful application in Egypt, propping the crumbling interior of the nation’s oldest pyramid. When inflated, an array of the 1.5-meter-tall bags will allow workers safely to stabilize the fractured interior roof of the subterranean burial chamber, itself buried under the ancient stone heap that forms the Pyramid of Djoser, south of Cairo. Built nearly 4,900 years ago in the reign of Djoser, the first king of the Third dynasty, the structure is the world’s oldest major stone monument, according to Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt’s
Keith Howells, newly installed chairman of London-based global design firm Mott MacDonald Group, is optimistic that Dubai’s gradual emergence from its real estate slump will boost the firm’s fortunes this year. Mott’s recent award of a design contract on the $6-billion Dubai Pearl mixed-use project supports his view that the emirate’s construction market is climbing “off the floor.” Photo: Courtesy of Mott MacDonald Group Keith Howells takes over as chairman of Mott MacDonald Group just as the firm wins a design award on a $6-billion Dubai development. Mott’s work involves design of mechanical, electrical, public health, fire, communications and security