Researchers in Northern Ireland report promising results from a demonstration project that used rods made with basalt fibers to reinforce a 22-meter-long concrete-deck section of a $1.5-million replacement bridge in County Fermanagh. The mineral material, which resists corrosion and has twice the tensile strength of steel, is not yet accredited for structural use in the U.K. In addition to testing the basalt-fiber-reinforced polymer (BFRP), the project is a demonstration of compressive membrane analysis in deck design, says Susan Taylor, a senior structural-engineering lecturer at Queen’s University, Belfast, which secured a $160,000 grant from the U.K. Dept. for Transport for the
Keen to reduce their region’s growing energy reliance on Russia, European financial institutions have thrown their weight behind the $10.3-billion Nabucco gas pipeline through Turkey. Map: Walter Kornegay And Sue Pearsall For ENR Nabucco pipeline would provide gas delivery route that avoids Russia. Russia is fighting back with two rival projects, the first already well into construction. Together, the three pipelines could pump 149 billion cu meters of gas per year into the continent. The 3,300-kilometer-long Nabucco pipeline will cross Turkey, continue through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, and terminate some 50 km inside Austria at Baumgarten. It is planned to
German contractor Hochtief A.G., the Essen-based firm now ranked as the world’s largest in revenue outside its home country, is considering a Sept. 16 buyout offer by Madrid-based construction giant Grupo ACS. The Spanish contractor, which is Hochtief’s largest shareholder with a nearly a 30% stake, has offered $72.70 per share for the rest, valued at about $3.5 billion (€2.7b). Set at a level below Hochtief’s previous day’s closing price, the bid is “incredibly optimistic and very low,” says Olivia Peters, an equities analyst at MF Global, London. “Maybe they know something we don’t. They’ve had two members on the
Up to 600 U.K.-based staffers of engineering consultant Arup Group Ltd., London, face possible layoff as construction shows signs of slowing down. The design firm, with a nearly 10,000 -person global workforce, began 90 days of “consultation” with employees over the planned job cuts. Current market weakness and public sector spending cuts in the U.K. are prompting Arup’s retrenchment, says a spokeswoman. “Projects in the public sector [are being] cut or put on hold,” she adds. Arup cut 330 jobs last year. The planned job losses come as this month’s survey of construction-sector purchasing managers reveals a continuing drop in
Ian P. Tyler, a chartered accountant who now runs London-based contractor Balfour Beatty plc, admits to “never being good” at the accounting business. But the company’s CEO is much better at the numbers game than he lets on, having propelled it in the last decade to become a diversified and profitable construction industry player. With the $626-million addition of professional services heavyweight Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB), New York City, in 2009, the firm now aims to expand its global footprint and capitalize on its resources. The combination already is generating a new competitive force, as the firms work to take advantage
The global construction market has taken its lumps over the past two years, and many large international contractors are scrambling to maintain their size.
China plans to award a design-build contract soon for the sunken tube tunnel and artificial islands comprising part of the 30-kilometer-long, $5.5-billion road link between Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau, in the Pearl River Delta. Bids for the bridge section will follow in a few months, says a project source. Officials plan to open the link in 2016. Road link across the Pearl River Delta will include a sunken tube tunnel and artificial islands. From Hong Kong, some 5 km of bridges will link to two 700-meter-long islands, which will be linked by the tunnel. The crossing will continue on
More than any other European nation, the U.K. is pinning its hopes for a low-carbon-electricity future on offshore wind power. It already has more offshore generation than any other nation, at over 1,000 MW. But with construction costs posing the major hurdle to reach the U.K.’s goal of generating 12,000 MW by 2020, the quest is on for the best foundations in ever-deeper waters. Because of supply bottlenecks and other factors, the real construction cost of offshore wind farms has risen 20% since the first commercial schemes were built seven years ago, says Rob Hastings, head of marine resources at
Aiming to cut costs of offshore wind power, British engineers are developing a vertical-axis turbine that would eliminate the need for a tower, reduce stress on blades and foundations and ease installation work. The developer of the 10-MW device hopes to have a 1-MW proof-of-concept machine at work within two years. A full-scale demonstration would follow. Photo Courtesy Wind Power Ltd./Grimshaw In the vertical-axis concept, blades spin close to the ocean surface, like a fan on its back. The device has two rotors attached to inclined arms. These arms rise from a vertical axle in a module sitting just above
U.K.—based designer W.S. Atkins plc will significantly boost its U.S. market stake with the Aug. 2 announcement of plans to acquire Tampa, Fla.-based transportation engineer and construction manager PBSJ Corp. in a $280-million cash transaction. The proposed deal also provides the U.S. firm with a needed capital infusion for growth and an ownership transition following several tough years financially and recent efforts to seek a buyer. CLARKE The deal would link Atkins, the industry’s 11th largest global design firm with $2.2 billion in 2009 revenue, with an employee-owned engineer that ranks 28th on ENR’s list of the Top 500 Design
