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
The global recession’s vise grip on construction costs is starting to loesen in several countries, according to the London-based international project and cost-management firm Gardiner & Theobald Inc. The nineteenth annual survey of costs is conducted exclusively for Engineering News-Record. G&T surveys its 51 offices and affiliates worldwide. Related Links: Forecast: A Weak Recovery Checks Inflation Confidence Index: Heads of Major Firms Believe Market Is Nearing Stability Equipment: Why Few Are Debating the New Federal Fuel Economy Rules Lumber: Chinese Demand Props Up Prices Asia: Overseas, Inflation Creeps Back Complete Report Of the 28 countries reporting building cost inflation through
The global construction market has been taking its lumps over the past two years, and many large international firms are scrambling to maintain their size. However, as the slump grows in duration, a few things are becoming clear: The construction recession is not universal, some regions and market sectors are doing well, and many international firms are thriving. Photo: Art Credit Strabag SE Related Links: View Complete Global Sourcebook with Rankings General Building: Firms Say World Market Is Thawing, Albeit Slowly Transportation: Asia Bright Light in Otherwise Dim Sector Power: Growing Demand Fuels Worldwide Boom Environment: Global Expansions Yield Opportunities
Railroad maintenance crews in the U.K. have been using sprayed polymer to strengthen track ballast for about a decade. One contractor now aims to go one step further and use strengthened ballast as a non-intrusive reinforcement for some of the country’s 25,000 aging brick-and-stone arch bridges. Balfour Beatty Rail Ltd., Redhill, is offering a method to treat a bridge and its polymer-coated ballast as a composite structure. The resulting enhanced strength of the arch can eliminate the need for concrete or steel reinforcement, says Andy Curzon, BBR’s head of technical services. The technique, called XiSPAN, would preserve the appearance of
Japan and China have cornered the market in major cable-supported bridges in recent years. But now another East Asian rival is on the rise. South of the Russian port city of Vladivostok, the world’s longest cable-stayed span—at 1,104 meters—is due to start erection next April. Spanning the “eastern Bosphorus” waterway from the southern tip of the Nazimov Peninsula, the Russky Bridge is a key element in the work to prepare Russky Island to host the 2012 Asia-Pacific Summit, which will include U.S. and Canada government heads. To feed traffic to the new crossing, work has advanced further on a second
Planners of the $6.6-billion Femern Belt road and rail link between Denmark and Germany have rejected a bridge option in favor of a 18-kilometer-long sunken-tube tunnel. Government confirmation of the choice is expected next month. The process of prequalifying contractors is scheduled to start later in 2011. Running between Puttgarden, on Germany’s Fehmarn Island, and R�dby, on Lolland Island, Denmark, the project will provide a new route from Scandinavia to Central Europe. LUNDHUS Following extensive studies by two international design teams, officials at the project developer, Denmark’s Femern A/S, Copenhagen, say a tunnel poses fewer construction and operational risks than
Australia’s largest-ever privately financed transportation infrastructure project appears to be running on schedule. But two years into its construction, Brisbane’s $4.6-billion Airport Link highway is taking a financial toll on the project’s design-build team. The 6.7-kilometer toll road is being built to link central Brisbane to its northern suburbs and airport district. The project includes twin 5.7-km-long tunnels set some 20 meters apart. With more than $2.5 billion spent to date, the project is more than 60% complete, reports Raymond Wilson, chief executive of the road’s concessionaire, Brisconnections. “The pace of tunnel excavation is quickening. We have seen four tunnel
