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The Merseylink construction consortium selected to deliver a new gateway project on the River Mersey has developed a new bridge. The trestle bridge will be used by heavy construction vehicles and sophisticated equipment purely as an access platform to the build site. A lifting section, which will be used to allow boats to pass up and down the river, is also due to be installed. The consortium is made up of three contractors, FCC Construcción, Kier Infrastructure & Overseas and Samsung Construction & Trading. The temporary bridge will be dismantled and removed completely when the new Mersey Gateway Bridge is in place. Richard Walker, Merserylink Project Director, said: “Completion of the trestle bridge marks another important milestone for the Mersey Gateway Project. “It will provide …

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Balfour Beatty suffered a significant revolt among shareholder ranks over the firm’s remuneration report at its AGM yesterday. Shareholders holding nearly a third of the stock voted against accepting the 2014 remuneration report, which included terms for doubling Steve Marshall’s salary to £531,500 during the eight months that he acted as executive chairman. The protest vote reflected a groundswell of shareholder concern about the previous boards’ pay after a performance that saw Balfour Beatty rack up a total trading loss of £391m last year. After the London AGM, Balfour issued a statement that said: “The company notes the significant number of votes cast against Resolution 2, the advisory vote on the directors’ remuneration report. “As shareholders are aware, 2014 was a challenging year for the company and the remuneration …

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Five firms have secured places for £10m-plus projects under Cambridgeshire County Council’s and Northamptonshire County Council’s shared services framework. They are among a total of 30 firms making the cut on a panel that will be used to deliver an estimated £500m-£1bn of work over four years. The Local Government Shared Services construction framework will be used for repairs and renovation, refurbishment, demolition, modular build, extensions and new build. LGSS Framework £100k – £1.5m £1.5m – £3m £3m – £6m £6m – £10m £10m plus Steele & Bray Jeakins Weir Wildgoose Kier Wates Borras Barnes Keepmoat Farrans John Graham T + B Lakehouse Seddon Willmott Dixon Galliford Try D Brown Ashe Lakehouse Bouygues Vinci Coulson Watson …

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Galliford Try has signed a deal with Shepherd Group to buy their Yorkshire housing assets. As reported recently, the deal will give Linden Homes’ a springboard to meet its targeted expansion by 2018. The sell-off comprises six current sites and five sites in planning, totalling a landbank of 515 plots. It is not known what will happen to the 60 staff at Shepherd Homes. It is the first disposal by Shepherd Group after the management reviewed its options for its seven main operating businesses. Latest 2014 accounts for the privately-owned group showed it struggled to perform with profit falling 40% to £11m from a turnover of £686m. Within this there were strong performances by Portakabin, Shepherd Engineering Services, Homes and FM, but Shepherd Construction and two businesses within Shepherd …

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Mobile CAD Surveying the Measured Building Surveying specialists have launched a new website this week to show off some of their recent work and surveying services. The Company are well known for carrying out specialist surveying projects and schedules of buildings to all types of premises around the UK and abroad for many blue chip clients and adding to their portfolio of clients and surveying services all the time, though it about time they launch a new website to better compliment their growing business, so mobcad is now launched. If you need any type of building surveying for whatever reason, they will be happy to help. A few reasons to use Mobile CAD Surveying Solutions Ltd:- Short lead in times usually less than 7 days Short drawing turn around …

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The European Commission has opened an anti-dumping investigation into Chinese imports of steel rebar. The investigation will look at the flood of imports of high fatigue performance rebar, which is coming into the UK at below market prices. Imports now account for half of the total steel used in construction and are undermining domestic steel manufacturing. European trade body EUROFER triggered the Commission investigation warning the situation was “no longer sustainable”. UK Steel, the body representing manufacturers, said it hoped the move would see a step-change for European procurement practices, reintroducing a level playing field for suppliers across the UK and Europe. Gareth Stace, Director of UK Steel, said: “UK steel members are encouraged by the Commission’s action to investigate our complaint that rebar from China is being dumped …

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Hundreds of subcontractors hit by the collapse of the GB Group are owed £39m. And administrators at BDO have conceded that trade suppliers are unlikely to see a penny of their cash The Enquirer has seen the administrator’s report in the wake of the firm’s failure in early March. It makes grim reading for subcontractors owed money for work on more than 40 former GB sites across the country. GB Group and GB Building Solutions crashed owing more than £100m in total. That figure includes £30m to unsecured trade creditors and a further £9m held in retentions. The companies also owed £18m to performance bond underwriters with the balance made up of inter-company debts and cross indemnities. BDO experts believe their will …

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The University of Liverpool has gained planning permission for a £90m student accommodation scheme at its Greenbank halls. The job, which will be run by the University of Liverpool Construction Company Special Projects team, involves building new halls of residence, demolishing old ones and refurbishing Derby Hall. Its in-house construction team was formed at the time of the collapse of student accommodation specialist Ocon to finish a major student hall project at the university. The latest student village scheme will deliver 1,370 new or refurbished rooms in total and include a two-storey sports hall. It forms part of a £250m masterplan by the university to build and upgrade accommodation at its city and Mossley Hill base. New housing blocks are to be set around three …

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The first rugby match has already been held at the Olympic Stadium after construction workers on the site staged an impromptu match. The workers were spurred into action during a visit by England’s Jason Robinson and New Zealand’s Robbie Hunter-Paul to promote the upcoming autumn international Rugby League series. Balfour Beatty staff persuaded the rugby legends to head-up two teams who battled it out on a makeshift pitch in the middle of the construction site. The first – and winning – try at the stadium was scored by Robinson as England notched-up a rare victory over the Kiwis. Stuart Fraser, Stadium Project Director from Balfour Beatty, said: “We knew Jason and Robbie were coming down to see the Stadium’s progress and as quite a …

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UCATT general secretary Steve Murphy is understood to have offered his resignation as a financial crisis engulfs the union. It is understood that Murphy tendered his resignation yesterday. But members of the UCATT executive council are understood to have persuaded Murphy to take a month off on sick-leave instead. A UCATT spokesperson said: “Steve Murphy is currently on sick leave”. The latest blow comes as the union is facing a major redundancy programme in a bid to save money. One union expert said: “UCATT is in crisis and this is just the latest blow. “It has been spending more money that it has been getting in for some time now and the whole situation is now coming to a head.” We understand that UCATT still …

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