National Highways trials better management of road materialsNational Highways has appointed Soil Link to trial new approaches in managing and reusing heavy construction materials across its network.
Soil Link’s digital platform and expertise will be used to transform material sourcing and management practices across 4,500 miles of motorways and major A roads.
The trial will aim to drive forward…
Nearly 40 solid wall insulation firms suspendedThe Government has banned 39 solid wall insulation specialists from installing new insulation in people’s homes because of poor-quality work.
Routine checks carried out by quality watchdog TrustMark have uncovered widespread cases of botched solid wall insulation on homes.
The Government has now launched a crackdown on firms that fitted insulation…
Manchester 18-storey top-heavy tower approvedDeveloper Soller has got the planning thumbs up for a distinctive 18-storey tech office project in Manchester that incorporates several buildings at street level.
Designs by architect Howells for the NXQ scheme retain and restore 19th-century buildings on the site while respecting the neighbouring grade II-listed Daily Express Building.
The main tower…
Travis Perkins fined £2m after timber falls from lorry killing driverA court has fined builders’ merchant Travis Perkins £2m after part of a timber load fell off one of its lorries and into the windscreen of an oncoming car, killing the driver.
The firm admitted three safety offences and sentence was passed at Hove Crown Court on Thursday.
On May 13, 2020, father-of-three Jack Stevens, 28,…
Plan approved for Oxford homes and life sciences quarterPlans for a major mixed-use scheme in Oxford on a 15-acre brownfield site have gained outline planning paving the way for a major package of enabling works.
A joint venture between Nuffield College and Oxford City Council – OXWED – aims to transform Oxford’s West End with a new quarter next to Oxpens meadow.
The plans include 234…
Slow spending by Network Rail hits Renew profitsSlower than expected spending by Network Rail in the current £45bn CP7 investment round has prompted a profit warning at infrastructure specialist Renew.
In a trading update to the City today it said: “Trading within the rail sector has been impacted by the slow start to the Control Period (“CP7”), which commenced in April 2024.
“This…
Cartel watchdog drops probe into cement admixturesWatchdogs at the Competition and Markets Authority have closed their probe into suspected anti-competitive conduct in the supply of chemical admixtures for cement, mortars and concrete.
The CMA was working closely with the European Commission, which had also launched an investigation into the sector back in October 2023.
Today the cartel watchdog…
Bid race begins for £1bn concrete road replacement dealNational Highways has opened the bidding for a new six-year framework to deliver a major programme of concrete road replacement.
The new £1bn Legacy Concrete Roads Reconstruction Framework replaces the existing arrangement, which was more focused on repairs than reconstruction.
Under the present £400m five-year framework, Morgan Sinda…
Groundworks specialist Kaybridge faces liquidationMiddlesex based groundworks contractor Kaybridge Construction (Barnet) Ltd is due to be placed into liquidation today.
A deemed consent notice in The Gazette this week confirmed that Redmans Insolvency Services is set to be appointed once confirmed by creditors.
Kaybridge has been in business since 1972 providing groundworks, substructures and…
“Cynical” legal bids to block infrastructure neuteredThe Government is stopping “cyncial” bids to block major infrastructure schemes with multiple legal challenges.
Current rules mean unarguable cases can be dragged through the courts three times – causing years of delay and hundreds of millions of cost to project.
Primary legislation will be changed so that where a judge in an ora…