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Highways England has abandoned plans to bid four asset support style contracts worth over £1bn to bring control of maintenance work in-house. The U-turn on ASCs follows its decision to trial a new maintenance regime on Area 7 in the Midlands earlier this year. At the time the agency said it still intended to go-ahead with bid competitions for Cornwall and Devon (Area 1); Somerset, Avon, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire (Area 2); Cumbria and parts of Lancashire (Area 13); Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Durham and North Yorkshire (Area 14). But yesterday Highways England confirmed it would now bring control and management of the maintenance work in-house, preferring to select individual contractors to deliver specific elements of the work in each region. A Highways England spokesperson …

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Structural faults in the steelwork have led to a full closure of the Forth Road Bridge until the New Year. The crossing was closed to traffic from midnight resulting in traffic chaos around Edinburgh and Fife and now Transport for Scotland has revealed the bridge will remain closed until the New Year. A spokesman for Transport Scotland said: “The southbound carriageway has been closed and a contraflow has been in place since defects were discovered in steelworks on Tuesday. “Since then inspections have identified eight other parts of the bridge where similar problems could be encountered. “The closure decision was taken late on Thursday after the latest reports indicated the faults were more serious than had earlier been thought.” Initially Amey engineers found a single vertical …

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According to new research undertaken by a leading trade insurance specialist, more than 90% of construction workers polled admitted that they’d previously arrived at a job, despite knowing for sure that they were too ill or injured to carry out the task to a high enough standard. The worries of not being able to make ends meet, support loved ones and pay the bills mean that the majority of British construction workers polled in a new study have previously continued with employment, despite knowing that they were too ill or injured to complete work to a high enough standard. The team at www.constructaquote.com polled a total of 2,384 adults aged 25 and over for the purposes of the research. Each participant had been working in the construction …

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Plans have got off the ground again to save Whitby’s crumbling historic piers on the exposed North Yorkshire coast. Scarborough Borough Council has just started the hunt for a contractor to design and deliver extensive refurbishment of the east and west piers in Whitby Harbour. The piers have suffered heavy storm damage over the years with the east pier, in particular, at risk of collapse. The landmark piers have been protecting Whitby harbour and the town’s maze of harbourside cottages and passageways since 1545, when they were built of timber. They were rebuilt in 1632 using stone and today they are officially recognised as listed buildings by Historic England. Works will include repairs to the masonry block work including filling of voids due to material loss, driving new sheet …

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A leading UK provider of wood burning stoves and biomass heating solutions has revealed the aspects of a home that Britons look for and find most appealing when property hunting. Findings revealed that exposed brick, a kitchen island and a wood burner/aga were the house features most likely to persuade respondents to buy a property. In a bid to discover the most appealing home aesthetics Briton’s look for when viewing properties for the first time, a new piece of research undertaken by a leading UK provider of wood heating solutions set out to unveil the elements attached to a property most likely to help it sell. The team at www.Euroheat.co.uk polled a total of 2,085 UK-based adults aged 30-65, all of whom were either …

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Mobile CAD Surveying the measured building specialists were recently asked to provide floor plans and elevational drawings of a large office building in Hounslow, c.113,000sq ft. They turned round their quote and started on site within 7 days, completing the full survey just over a week later. Most projects are a rush these days, but they didn’t realise that Galliard Homes, the developer was ready to launch and market the site immediately even though completion was still two years away. It turns out that they were very successful and sold all 228 apartments within 3 hours of the doors opening. Mobile CAD Surveying Solutions are proud to be associated with this development and happy that their efforts to turn the project around so fast helped the client achieve …

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London’s Whiteleys shopping centre is set to get a new lease of life after ambitious plans to restore the Grade II-listed building were submitted to Westminster Council. A joint venture between a Meyer Bergman-advised investment fund and Warrior Group is seeking to deliver a £1bn redevelopment of the once grand department store in Bayswater. The Foster + Partners designed mixed-use scheme, which will incorporate the iconic central dome, will see 500,000-plus sq ft built behind the existing 1911 facade. This will include construction of more than 100 homes, a mixture of apartments and townhouses. These will be arranged around an inner courtyard with new shops, a boutique hotel, gym and basement cinema. Exterior of the existing building will be retained although it will be extended up with two …

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New research by trade insurance specialist’s construcaquote.com has revealed that the average British construction worker will eat upwards of 1,500 calories more than the recommended daily intake. Despite this revelation, less than one fifth of workers polled considered themselves to be at all overweight.   As part of its ongoing research into insights and trends surrounding the construction industry, a constructatquote.com has investigated the eating habits and diets of a group of British construction workers, to look into how healthy they are compared to those with more stationary and less active jobs. Researchers at constructaquote.com polled a total of 2,193 male UK construction workers, all of whom were aged 18 or over. In order to keep the results as unbiased as possible, those taking part in the …

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To coincide with UK Radon Awareness Week, leading experts in the field of radon management have undertaken a new piece of research which indicates that fewer than 10% of British adults are aware of the dangers of the gas, even though it is responsible for an estimated 1100 deaths annually as a result of the lung cancer it can cause. In the lead up to the 2015 Radon Awareness Week, taking place between the 7th and 13th  of November, a brand new study has been carried out in a bid to discover the awareness levels of radon gas amongst Britons. UK Radon Association members (www.radonweek.co.uk) commissioned a poll of 2,884 UK adults aged 18 and over as part of the research. Participants were spread across an even range …

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8 Router Bits & Accessories for all DIYers Whether you are a seasoned DIYer, donning your tool belt or a novice who chooses their tool belt based on the cool logo it holds, there are some pieces of equipment that everyone who is worth their salt should know about. Working on the assumption that you already have the raw materials, we welcome new and experienced DIYers alike to our countdown of what bits you need to complete your tool box, from money saving essentials to the stuff that makes you look like a pro: Coming in at Number 8 Looking to make your money go the extra mile? This dry lubricant spray will increase your tool life, making your saw blade and cutters live on much longer than expected. Unlike…

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