Civils

A decision on whether to move forward with the Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) road scheme has been pushed back until after the general election. The planning decision is now scheduled for 4 October “to allow appropriate time” for a new transport secretary to consider the plan post-election, said Mark Harper,…

Contractors are being sought for a £155m road-dualling project in Scotland. Transport Scotland has formally advertised the job to work on the A9 between Tay Crossing and Ballinluig. The 8.2km section of road in central Scotland is being upgraded to a dual carriageway as part of a wider programme to…

The transport secretary has green-lit a major road-dualling scheme that was awarded to Costain almost three years ago. Mark Harper acted in line with the Planning Inspectorate’s recommendation, granting a development consent order for the 20km project to upgrade the A1 between Morpeth and Ellingham. Costain secured the contract in…

Former Crossrail boss Mark Wild is to become chief executive of High Speed 2 (HS2) Ltd. The experienced transport leader will take the reins of the shortened rapid rail link with a brief to keep costs down and prevent delays. A start date has not yet been set for his…

Civils contractors have welcomed reports that a future Labour administration would merge the government’s two main infrastructure delivery bodies. In an interview with the Financial Times, Darren Jones, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said his party plans to bring the functions of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and the…

Amey, Aecom and WSP are among six contractors to have scooped places on a £90m engineering design framework in Northern Ireland. They join Jacobs, RPS Ireland and AtkinsRealis on the Department for Infrastructure’s (DFI’s) Major Works Planning, Assessment and Delivery Framework. The deal will see the successful firms work on…

The UK arm of Strabag has revealed a timetable for its new building unit to compete for construction tenders. Its activity in 2024 and 2025 “will be disproportionately geared towards securing new work” rather than delivering its traditional secured backlog in construction services, Strabag UK said in its latest amended…

Work on the £1.7bn Stonehenge Tunnel has been put on hold after campaigners were granted permission to challenge the ruling that the project should go ahead. National Highways, which had hoped to begin preparatory work on the site this month, said it was “hugely disappointed” by the court’s decision to…

An international group of contractors has secured £1.8bn of works on an England-to-Scotland power project. Athens-based Mytilineos Energy and Metals, US giant GE Vernova and Milan's Power Link Submarine Cable Solutions were appointed to National Grid's Torness to Hawthorn Pit HVDC Link. The engineering, procurement and construction deals will see…

Transport secretary Mark Harper has given the green light for a £210m VolkerFitzpatrick motorway project in the South of England. The contractor will upgrade Junction 9 of the M3 near Winchester, Hampshire, after the development consent order was granted. VolkerFitzpatrick was appointed to the scheme back in 2022 but an…