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Yearly Archives: 2021
Housing giants face council fury over delays to promised school
A council is considering legal action against three of the country’s biggest house builders to take control of a delayed school building project forming part of a major mixed-use scheme in Barry.
The Vale of Glamorgan Council said it will consider legal action to take charge of building Barry Waterfront School if developer the Waterfront Consortium refuses to hand over control voluntarily.
The council said the Waterfront Consortium – of Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Homes – has repeatedly delayed work on the school and has still not given assurances over a construction start date.
Cllr Lis Burnett, Vale of Glamorgan Council Cabinet Member for Education and Regeneration, said: “Enough is enough. It is regrettable that we have reached this point, but the consortium has proven it has no interest in building the primary school it promised as part of the Waterfront Development.
“I, along with other Council representatives, have held numerous meetings with them in an effort to address this matter but have been unable to make any real progress.
“At every turn we have been met with excuses, yet the developers’ house building operation does not seem to be suffering from the same problems, which is frankly astonishing.
“I can only conclude that while happy to build houses for commercial gain, the Waterfront Consortium has no interest in fulfilling its obligation to build a community.
“It is not only in breach of its legal commitments, but also local and national government polices around placemaking.
“The consortium has broken promises to residents of the Vale of Glamorgan and that is something we are not prepared to accept.
“This situation has been tolerated for long enough. We have formally written to the Waterfront Consortium asking that it sign over the school site to us. If the developers do not agree, we will explore what legal action is available to allow us to take control.”
The Council has previously taken enforcement action against developers at Barry Waterfront after they began building residential properties without appropriate planning permission.
A Temporary Stop Notice was also previously issued preventing the building and selling of new homes on the waterfront until significant progress had been made on delivering a complex of commercial space, including bars and restaurants, known as the District Centre.
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Government pumps cash into £93m Aston Expressway repairs
The Government has agreed to fund the £93m strengthening and repair programme to a key viaduct on the northern section of the Aston Expressway between Birmingham city centre and the M6 motorway.
The Tame Valley Viaduct, which carries about 80,000 vehicles a day, was starting to show signs of deterioration.
Without government funding, the viaduct would need weight and width restrictions within a few years and, over time, the link could potentially face full closure.
The Government is putting £72m into the project which is expected to cost £93.5m with the remaining funding coming from Birmingham City Council and the Local Growth Fund.
Work is due to start on an extensive strengthening programme next year with structure remaining open to traffic throughout. The vast project is expected to take nearly five years to complete.
Proposals involve major strengthening and refurbishment works on the viaduct, ensuring it can continue to carry heavy vehicles. It will remain open to traffic throughout the duration of works.
There are also plans to apply a protective anti-corrosion paint system to the structure alongside other general refurbishments, preserving the longevity of the viaduct and minimising the need for future work.
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Balfour in race for £1bn Teesside carbon capture scheme
Energy giant BP has awarded two front end engineering and design contracts for its planned £1bn-plus power station and carbon capture and storage scheme on Teesside.
Net Zero Teesside Power’s carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) project is a world first for a new gas-fired power station with a built-in process to capture and pump waste CO2 into a North Sea abandoned gas field cluster.
The first contracts for a design and development competition have been awarded to two engineering consortiums.
Front End Engineering Design dual contract awards
Technip Energies and General Electric consortium – led by Technip Energies and including Shell and Balfour BeattyAker Solutions Doosan Babcock and Siemens Energy consortium – led by Aker Solutions and including Aker Carbon Capture
The design contracts involve both the flexible gas-fired power station with CCUS capabilities and the Northern Endurance Partnership’s facilities to gather and compress CO2 and export it offshore for storage.
The scheme aims to be up and running within the next five years and could create 5,500 direct jobs during its construction.
Over the next 12 months the bid teams will draw up comprehensive FEED package, led from their UK offices.
They will then submit proposals for the execution phase. As part of the final investment decision expected in 2023, a single consortium will be selected to take the project forward into construction.
The scheme is the Government’s preferred project to lead the UK’s net zero ambitions and will see up to 10million tonnes of CO2 emissions captured each year – equivalent to the emissions associated with the annual energy use of three million homes – and store it under the North Sea via a series of pipes.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “Just days after local firm Thompsons carried out a large-scale explosive demolition project, and we lodged plans to clear the site on Teesworks where Net Zero Teesside Power will sit, we now have this incredibly welcome news.
“This announcement shows how fast our plans are accelerating to deliver this game-changing facility on Teesside. Net Zero Teesside Power is a flagship project to put our region front-and-centre in delivering the cleaner, safer and healthier industries of the future.
“It has been recognised by Government as a key project needed to drive the UK’s net zero ambitions and it will also put us on the map for other businesses looking for locations for their own low-carbon projects. What’s more, it’ll do all this while creating the thousands of well-paid, good-quality jobs people from across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool people deserve.”
Louise Kingham, bp’s UK head of country and senior vice president of Europe said “Moving to Front End Engineering Design is a major step forward for Net Zero Teesside Power and the development of the Northern Endurance Partnership.
“This first-of-a-kind project has the potential to deliver enough low carbon, flexible electricity to power around 1.3 million homes, and can help secure Teesside’s position at the green heart of the country’s energy transition.”
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Record-breaking TBM on way to Silvertown Tunnel
The largest tunnel boring machine to be used in the UK has passed factory tests and is being shipped in pieces from Germany to the Silvertown Tunnel project in East London.
The diameter of the TBM measures 11.91m – equivalent of almost three double decker buses – dwarfing other recent tunnelling machines.
First machine pieces have begun to arrive on site from maker Herrenknecht’s works keeping the programme of assembly on track for the TBM launch next Spring.
A joint venture between BAM Nuttall, Ferrovial Construction and SK Ecoplant, known as Riverlinx Construction, is delivering 1.4km twin-lane road tunnel under the River Thames, linking North Greenwich and Silvertown.
How TBMs measure up
Silvertown diameter (11.9m); weight 1,800 tonnesCrossrail project (7.1m); 526 tonnesNorthern line extension (6.03m); 310 tonnesThames Tideway project (8.85m); 780 tonnes.Largest HS2 TBM (10.3m); 2,000 tonnesChannel Tunnel (8.8m); 1,100 tonnes
The TBM will set off from the Silvertown launch chamber, piling for which is now completed and is currently being excavated.
It will then be rotated and relaunched from the Greenwich Peninsula, to excavate the second tunnel, completing a total drive of 2.2km.
The ability to turn the TBM around is an important feature of its bespoke design which also incorporates the need for it to navigate its way through the stiff clay layers and boulders in this part of London.
When finished, it will have excavated nearly 600,000 tonnes of material, extracted by barges along the river to keep construction traffic to a minimum during the project.
Juan Jose Bregel, Project Director, Riverlinx CJV: “It gives me and the delivery team an enormous sense of pride to have reached this important milestone for the Silvertown Tunnel project.
“Not only seeing the works really taking shape in preparation for launch at the two main sites at Silvertown and Greenwich but feeling the excitement of what is still to come as the pieces of the TBM arrive to be reassembled and launched in the first quarter of 2022.”
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Peel sets out vast Chatham Docks regen plan
Developer Peel L&P has set out its plans for further major investment in the redevelopment of Chatham Docks Industrial Estate in Kent.
A masterplan released by the developer outlines its new ambition to build 3,600 homes and a 1m sq ft new employment zone at the 90-acre riverside site.
Peel L&P masterplan vision for Chatham Docks. Key: Green – public open space; Green arrows – connectivity; Red and Orange – residential; Blue – employment space
Overall, the scheme has the potential to deliver 1.9m sq ft of floorspace which is similar to the scale of Peel L&P’s MediaCityUK development in Salford Quays.
Peel L&P has been investing in Medway for over a decade at its Chatham Waters development.
Since 2011, Peel L&P has pumped £125m into the redevelopment of the brownfield site, creating around 400 new homes, with a further 550 to be built over the next four years including 237 affordable homes and a new care home.
Waterfront UTC, and Mast & Rigging pub and restaurant. There is a further £500m to be invested over the next four years in Chatham Waters specifically on green community areas and an events zone.
James Whittaker, Executive Director of Development at Peel L&P said: “The vision is for a mixed-use sustainable community with a large employment area focusing on the digital, creative and health sectors along with a mix of homes including affordable homes, family housing, build to rent, open market and elderly living.
“The waterfront is a beautiful place, we have the chance to maximise this and create a community benefit that means all can enjoy the health and wellbeing advantages associated with this.”
Map depicting Chatham Waters and future redevelopment at Chatham Docks Industrial Estate
Completed residential, education and public realm at Peel L&P’s Chatham Waters
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Groundworker suffers burns during poorly planned dig
A contractor and its groundworks subbie have been fined £400,000 after unsafe excavation work left a worker with serious burns to his hand and arm.
High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court heard that, on the 2 August 2018, a groundworker was preparing the ground to install a post to carry an Automatic Number Plate Recognition Camera at Twyford near Reading, Berkshire.
Initially, the worker hand dug then started to use an 110V mechanical electric breaker when he struck a power cable supplying an adjacent British Telecommunications building.
The voltage of the cable was 415v causing the ground worker to receive an electric shock that caused burns to one hand and to his opposite arm.
An HSE investigation found that site plans for buried cables had not been consulted and a cable avoidance tool had not been used to locate buried services in advance of carrying out the work.
In addition, there was a lack of properly trained labour and supervision in place for the excavation works.
The principal contractor on site had failed to plan, manage and monitor the excavation works and also failed to provide adequate supervision for the project.
CLC Contractors Limited of Southampton pleaded guilty to breaching CDM regulations and were fined £400,000.00 and ordered to pay costs of £5,300.00.
Subcontractor Paul Gale, Company Director of PAG Building Services Ltd of Southampton also pleaded guilty to safety breaches
Due to the seriousness of the offence the case was referred to Aylesbury Crown Court where Gale was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment suspended for 24 months and 150 hour of community service. HSE was awarded costs of £7,200.
Speaking after the case, HSE inspector John Caboche said: “Those in control of work have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers in the safe system of working.
“In this instance, readily available buried service records were not consulted, and a cable avoidance tool was not provided to the groundworks team. Utilising these simple steps would have prevented this serious incident.”
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Keltbray wins two more tunnel HS2 shafts
Keltbray has secured a £12m extension to its current C1 Shaft contract for the HS2 Align joint venture.
The deal builds on awards for the first two ventilation shafts on the project in August at Chalfont St Peter and Chalfont St Giles.
Taken together the two double sets of shaft excavation jobs are worth over £26m.
The next two ventilation shafts along HS2’s 10 mile tunnel drives through the Chiltern Hills are located at Amersham and Little Missenden.
Excavation of the shaft in Amersham will be to a depth of 55m.
Keltbray’s works include internal shaft construction works to build slip-formed concrete cores and lining walls, reinforced concrete works at the base of the shafts, to create a collar structure to enable the TBMs to pass through the base of the shaft.
£100m landmark Portsmouth Uni project approved
The University of Portsmouth has gained planning for its £100m Victoria Park major teaching building.
The 12-storey Victoria Park Academic Building project is being tendered on a single-stage design and build basis with the University hoping to make an award in February to start work in Spring 2022.
BAM, Bowmer & Kirkland, Kier, Morgan Sindall, Vinci and Wates are understood to be in the bidding for the project.
Designs by architect Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and MEP consultant Buro Happold have been developed to RIBA Design Stage 4. These are targeting a top BREEAM rating of ‘Outstanding’.
Photovoltaic panels cover the angled roof, producing renewable power and a high performing façade will manage heat and light.
Park Room – view into social learning landings
Once complete in 2024, the building will house the Faculty of Business & Law and part of the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences.
Accommodation will also include a ground floor café and event space and restaurant on the top floor with roof terrace.
New academic building facilities
250-seat and 500-seat lecture theatresTwo 150-seat flat classroomsCourt room, laboratories and a video production suiteGround floor events and exhibition spaceOffices and meeting roomsRoof terrace and sky restaurant
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JCB workers get £750 Christmas bonus
JCB workers are being given a £750 Christmas bonus.
The bonus will be paid to more than 6,000 employees – including agency staff with over 12 months’ service – working at JCB’s 11 plants in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Wrexham.
JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald said: “This year we will produce a record number of machines and this bonus rewards a tremendous team effort. We are still facing severe challenges caused by unprecedented supply chain disruption which is impacting on production, and we expect this to continue for the first six months of next year.”
Toby Bell, 27, is a Business Degree Apprentice at JCB’s World HQ in Rocester, Staffs, and this is his first JCB Christmas bonus.
He said: “It’s a big motivator to get rewarded like this and a real boost. It’s really kind of JCB to give us a Christmas bonus and to be recognised for the hard work everyone has put in this year.”
Early Careers Scheme Leader Holly Broadhurst, 27, of Leek, said: “This has come as a really fantastic surprise. It’s tremendous that everyone’s hard work and dedication has been rewarded.”
Backhoe Loader Team Leader Kevin Pickles, 40, of Mickleover, near Derby, added: “It’s brilliant. Everyone is buzzing in the factory today. It’s going to give my two kids, Freddie, five and Amelia, two, a great Christmas.”
Backhoe Loader Production Support Specialist Kait Williams, 21, of Church Leigh, near Uttoxeter, added “It’s brilliant news. This bonus is going to give everyone a great Christmas.”
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New skills centre in Birmingham to train workforce of the future
University College Birmingham has unveiled plans for a new sustainable construction skills centre as part of the regeneration of the iconic James Cond print works in the city’s Jewellery Quarter.
The new Engineering and Sustainable Construction Centre will offer state-of-the-art courses and facilities specifically designed to train the workforce of the future. Tilbury Douglas is working on the scheme with the university.
The new centre will specialise in courses including sustainable construction methods, manufacturing technologies, renewable energy, robotics and cyber and digital skills.
Michael Harkin, Vice-Chancellor and Principal at University College Birmingham, said: “The recent COP26 climate change conference included high emphasis on low carbon sustainable buildings with highly ecological specifications, and there is great need of new talent in this field, with hundreds of thousands of new workers expected to be required in the next few years.
“Our exciting new courses are centred around sustainable construction and design, plus developing advanced skills in engineering and construction, and are very different to those offered by other local providers.
“It is an offering that we will continue to develop from Level 2 and T-levels through to degree courses and apprenticeships, working closely with local employers to fill skills gaps and offer training in priority areas for the West Midlands.
“First and foremost, it is firmly about supporting young people and the long-term unemployed to gain industry-relevant skills and support them into work, further study and to gain critical skills to access high value jobs that meet local and regional needs.”
Colin Hamilton, Strategic Account Director at Tilbury Douglas Construction, said: “Tilbury Douglas is delighted to be working in partnership with University College Birmingham on the development of the new sustainable construction courses.
“As an employer, it is vital that our employees can access robust, fit-for-purpose qualifications that will address the skills shortage and provide our future and existing workforce with the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to demonstrate competency in their roles.
“We are passionate about recruiting and developing our own talent for the future, while ensuring we remain committed to sustainably delivering vital infrastructure to communities across the UK. This collaboration will help us to achieve this.”
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