Senior position in rail follows recent contract awards and supports future growth. Costain, the infrastructure solutions company, has announced the appointment of Alistair Geddes as rail sector director. Alistair joins from Balfour Beatty where he held the role of operations director leading its rail system business. In this role he
United Living Group, the provider of infrastructure, affordable housing, property services, and telecoms, is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, United Living Property Services (ULPS), has been awarded a £36 million contract with SNG (Sovereign Network Group), a housing association that builds and maintains affordable homes across London and the South
CONSTRUCTION of a crucial £18m surface water drainage system at the giant Teesworks site has reached a vital milestone. Water has now broken through from the River Tees into the South Bank Watercourse, which is designed to handle and manage the extensive quantities of surface water run-off from the Teesworks
Balfour Beatty VINCI has announced a significant milestone at HS2’s Long Itchington Wood Tunnel in Warwickshire – the first deep tunnel on the high-speed route to complete its civil engineering phase. The development at the one-mile-long twin-bore tunnel – which will carry the railway into the West Midlands – sees
Akela Ground Engineering, part of the Akela Group, has appointed precast piling manufacturing expert, John Ward, to support expansion of its precast manufacturing operations in England. With over 35 years of industry experience and a wealth of operational insight from roles with Aarsleff Ground Engineering UK, Centrum Pile Ltd and
The National Federation of Demolition Contractors (NFDC) regrets to announce that Duncan Rudall is stepping down from the position of CEO. Duncan has spent much time away from home and travelling on behalf of the NFDC. After his wife’s cancer treatment, he has made the decision that he must spend
New tool will help drive better social, environmental and economic outcomes for customers and local communities. Costain, the infrastructure solutions company, is rolling out a new social value tool designed to help delivery teams consistently measure and improve social impact and outcomes across all of its projects. Costain delivers social
Civil engineering tender prices increased by an average of 1% in the final quarter of 2024, according to a panel newly established by the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS). The BCIS Civil Engineering TPI panel has been formed to advise on the latest movement in tender prices, i.e. prices agreed
30-year-old among five new Fellowships awarded by the Institution of Civil Engineers. Costain, the infrastructure solutions company, is celebrating the achievements of five professionals who have been awarded Fellowship by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the highest grade of membership and a globally recognised mark of professional excellence. Fellowship
Clegg Construction has commenced work to deliver a new primary school near Burton upon Trent. Drakelow Primary School will be part of a 2,200-home residential estate currently under construction by Countryside Partnerships on the former Drakelow power station site. The 420-pupil primary school, being built on Marley Way, has been
Senior position in rail follows recent contract awards and supports future growth. Costain, the infrastructure solutions company, has announced the appointment of Alistair Geddes as rail sector director. Alistair joins from Balfour Beatty where he held the role of operations director leading its rail system business. In this role he looked after a number of manufacturing facilities, frameworks and projects for clients including Network Rail, Transport for Wales, Transport for London and others in the private sector. He has also held leading roles for several significant infrastructure programmes including Crossrail, Hinkley Point C Marine Works and the Olympic Stadium transformation. Alistair will support Costain’s strategic focus on growth in strong markets, as well as ensure the business continues to provide predictable, best-in-class delivery to its customers. Alistair’s appointment comes following a successful period of growth for Costain’s transportation division. Costain recently announced two significant contract awards for HS2, including a £400m contract to deliver tunnel and lineside mechanical and electrical (M&E) systems as well as a separate award to deliver high voltage power supply systems across the entire line, worth in the region of £300m to the Siemens Mobility and Costain Joint Venture. The news is Costain’s second senior appointment of the year, following on from the recent appointment of Eva Soto Pérez as engineering services general manager, as Costain ensures a full-service offering for its customers and supports the growth of its consultancy service. Jonathan Willcock, managing director, transportation, at Costain, commented: “UK rail infrastructure is critical for creating a sustainable future and driving UK prosperity through improved productivity, greater connectivity, and job creation. But it faces challenges around resilience, particularly with rising demand and more extreme weather. Alistair brings a wealth of experience that will support our rail sector growth as we continue to deliver the strategic needs of our customers.” Alistair Geddes, rail sector director at Costain, added: “Costain has an excellent reputation and heritage in delivering complex rail infrastructure that improves people’s lives. I’m looking forward to drawing on Costain’s breadth of service offerings and expertise from across the organisation to continue providing best-in-class infrastructure services to the rail industry.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
United Living Group, the provider of infrastructure, affordable housing, property services, and telecoms, is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, United Living Property Services (ULPS), has been awarded a £36 million contract with SNG (Sovereign Network Group), a housing association that builds and maintains affordable homes across London and the South of England. The five-year contract valued at £7.2 million per annum will see ULPS provide responsive repairs and voids service for SNG in the East of England and North and East London part of their operation. ULPS will be carrying out day-to-day responsive repairs, void repairs, and planned maintenance commencing in April 2025. Tom Bullock, Director of Responsive Services, United Living Property Services, said: “We are delighted to work in collaboration with SNG to maintain these properties. Our dedicated in-house teams provide a one-stop service of essential repairs and ongoing maintenance to provide a clean, safe environment for all residents.” Patrick Flynn, SNG Property Service Director (London and East), commented: “We are really pleased to be working with United Living Property Services to deliver a quality responsive repairs and voids service for customers in North and East London and the East of England. This new regional focus in our repairs delivery will ensure that we can deal with the number of repairs requests we receive from customers more efficiently.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
CONSTRUCTION of a crucial £18m surface water drainage system at the giant Teesworks site has reached a vital milestone. Water has now broken through from the River Tees into the South Bank Watercourse, which is designed to handle and manage the extensive quantities of surface water run-off from the Teesworks development. The watercourse will initially manage the large volumes of water draining from the 90-acre SeAH Wind turbine monopile manufacturing facility which is nearing completion. The vast scale of this facility means that rainwater run-off from the development will be significant, particularly under heavy storm conditions. As a result, all developments on the South Bank and Dorman Point areas of Teesworks need to have a means of efficiently discharging surface water so as not to hamper their operations, a role which the South Bank Watercourse performs. Extending up to 8m in depth and 1.9km in length, the new watercourse has been constructed largely as an open channel, natural stream, which supports the mitigation of water pollution through its natural filtration. It incorporates a gravel bed and carefully landscaped banks, discharging to the River Tees. The system also incorporates over 350 linear metres of buried culvert – where the watercourse passes beneath development land. The project incorporates a very large intertidal section where the watercourse meets the river. This will see an ecologically valuable salt marsh habitat created, which will be a natural haven for wildlife. The watercourse features extensive gabion basket walls – cages filled with stones – providing structural support to the open channels in most areas. These have been created using recycled aggregates sourced from land remediation projects on Teesworks – a former steelworks site – in lieu of importing natural quarried stone, saving cost and significantly mitigating the environmental impact of the scheme. In total, over 100,000 cubic metres of recycled aggregates were used on the project. John McNicholas, engineering and programme director at Teesworks, said: “We’re delighted to see the South Bank Watercourse reaching this pivotal milestone. “The sheer scale of the works has been something to behold, but equally, the logistical challenges that have had to be overcome in delivering the scheme through live construction sites where multiple remediation, infrastructure and building projects have been progressing simultaneously. “We are particularly pleased to see the extent to which we have been able to make best use of the resources on our own doorstep, through the extensive recycling of earthworks materials for use in the project’s channel bed and banks.” This important civil engineering project has been carried out by a number of different companies. The main civils contractor for phase one of the project was Hall Construction Services; for the other phases, including the final phase, it has been Applebridge Construction. The overall scope includes the diversion and upgrade of two existing watercourses – Holme Beck and Knitting Wife Beck – traversing the 60ha Dorman Point development zone on Teesworks, which will discharge into the South Bank section. For the Dorman Point section, the main civils contractor for the Holmebeck diversion and upgrade was Seymour Civil Engineering Ltd and for the Knitting Wife Beck diversion and upgrade first phase, it was Hall Construction Services Limited. The primary subcontractors used on the project were Phi Group on phase one, providing gabion basket retaining wall construction, and Enviromesh on subsequent phases, also providing gabion basket retaining wall construction. Following the watercourse works completion, the next phase of similar works will see the construction of the £3m second and final phase of the Knitting Wife Beck diversion on Dorman Point , followed by the £10m reconstruction of an existing four-bay bridge underpass beneath the Saltburn to Darlington railway corridor, which will enable the Holmebeck and Knitting Wife Beck channels on Dorman Point to connect through to the South Bank Watercourse. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Balfour Beatty VINCI has announced a significant milestone at HS2’s Long Itchington Wood Tunnel in Warwickshire – the first deep tunnel on the high-speed route to complete its civil engineering phase. The development at the one-mile-long twin-bore tunnel – which will carry the railway into the West Midlands – sees vital elements, including three cross passages, concrete finishing works and base slabs, and emergency and maintenance walkways complete. It comes before the internal fitting out of the tunnel with the complex systems needed to operate the high-speed line including the power, track and signalling. The tunnel is the first of five twin-bore tunnels on the HS2 project to reach this vital stage. In all, 27.4 miles of the route between London and the West Midlands are in deep, twin-bore tunnels. Work to create the Long Itchington Wood Tunnel initially began in June 2020. The 125-metre-long tunnel boring machine used to excavate the tunnel was named ‘Dorothy’ – after Dorothy Hodgkin who was the first British woman to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The machine was launched in December 2021 and finished excavating both bores of the tunnel by March 2023. The complex process to fully excavate two tunnel drives and the entrance sections produced around 750,000 tonnes of material, which has since been reused to build embankments along the route of the railway. Since the breakthrough almost two years’ ago, work has been ongoing to fit out the tunnels with its vital structural components. The tunnel is being built by HS2’s main works contractor for the West Midlands, Balfour Beatty VINCI, which is constructing 56 miles of HS2 between Long Itchington in Warwickshire to the centre of Birmingham and on to Staffordshire. Jules Arlaud, Tunnelling Director for Balfour Beatty VINCI, said: “The scale of this achievement is enormous. A dedicated workforce of around 380 people have worked tirelessly over the past five years to reach this latest phase of construction, where the tunnels are now fitted with three cross-passages and the concrete finishing works, base slabs, and walkways are also complete. “Throughout this project, our expert tunnelling team have installed a total of 1,582 concrete rings across both tunnels, with each ring made from eight two-metre-wide segments, each weighing up to 8 tonnes.” Doug Barnett, Senior Project Manager for HS2 Ltd, said: “It’s a small part of HS2 but it’s been four and a half years of my life in which I’ve seen this construction go from its very embers to nearing completion – a really proud moment for me personally. “Long Itchington Wood Tunnel is a tremendous feat of engineering and would not have been possible without a huge amount of continuous work put in over the past five years – I’d like to thank everyone involved working both onsite and behind the scenes for their support.” In total, 380 people have supported the Long Itchington Wood tunnelling project since construction work began. This includes recent engineering graduate Alfie Ward who used his new-found design knowledge and surveying skills to help HS2 engineers successfully complete the tunnel’s cross passage work safely and efficiently. Alfie Ward, Engineering Graduate at Balfour Beatty VINCI, said: “Working as a young engineering graduate on the Long Itchington Wood Tunnel was the perfect platform to launch my career from. This experience at such an early stage in my career meant I was able to learn lots of new skills, which I’m now applying at Bromford Tunnel, as a site engineer.” Long Itchington Wood Tunnel has been designed to minimise the impact of construction, with local land topography a key factor in the design and delivery process. At 30 metres below ground level, the tunnel preserves an ancient woodland above and avoids local villages. Construction of HS2 continues between the West Midlands and London, with the programme now supporting over 31,000 jobs. When complete, HS2 services will run between London and the West Midlands on a dedicated high-speed line before reaching destinations further north – creating economic growth and freeing up space for more local trains on the most congested part of the existing West Coast Main Line. In recent weeks, construction progress in the West Midlands has seen HS2 complete its first viaduct at HS2’s Delta Junction in North Warwickshire. HS2 has also revealed the latest progress on a new green bridge set to cross the high-speed railway near Kenilworth, Warwickshire. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Akela Ground Engineering, part of the Akela Group, has appointed precast piling manufacturing expert, John Ward, to support expansion of its precast manufacturing operations in England. With over 35 years of industry experience and a wealth of operational insight from roles with Aarsleff Ground Engineering UK, Centrum Pile Ltd and Green Piling, John joins Akela Group as Precast Manager and will be based between the Swadlincote and Glasgow offices. As well as managing the Glasgow facility, a key focus for John will be to source an English manufacturing base to increase capacity for Akela’s groundbreaking ABeam precast system, which was launched to market in early 2024. Currently manufactured at the company’s purpose-built facility near Glasgow, ABeam is a unique precast concrete beam system that uses a specially designed mechanical joint, allowing foundation ground beams to be installed in just a few hours. Not dependent on weather conditions, ABeam has been met with a positive reception from housebuilders in Scotland who have made significant time savings and efficiencies. Akela Ground Engineering is keen to grow the roll-out of the product across the UK and Ireland. In January the company announced its new Irish base in Co. Armagh and appointment of Barry Christy as Operations Manager for Akela Ground Engineering Ireland. Will Payne, Managing Director of Akela Ground Engineering, said: “It’s fantastic to welcome John to the team. His knowledge and expertise will play an important role in our strategic expansion plans in England. “Since launching to the Scottish market in early 2024, we have worked hard to roll out our ABeam system, with leading housebuilders seeing success at sites across the central belt. John will play a key part in our plans to create a manufacturing base in The Midlands which will enable us to offer this service to customers across England.” Speaking of his appointment, John Ward said: “I have been aware of Akela Group’s significant growth over the last few years and have been impressed with the company’s commitment to sustainable growth and innovative operations. The future of the construction industry will hinge on companies investing in innovative solutions and skills development and Akela Group has demonstrated its focus in these areas. “The launch of ABeam in 2024 was an exciting step change in our industry and I am looking forward to supporting its introduction and adoption by developers in England.” Leading housebuilders have praised ABeam for achieving significant efficiencies and helping to increase the number of homes built on their sites across Scotland. The system has received NHBC Accepts certification and the UKCA mark for its production facility, reinforcing Akela Group’s commitment to quality and reliability. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
The National Federation of Demolition Contractors (NFDC) regrets to announce that Duncan Rudall is stepping down from the position of CEO. Duncan has spent much time away from home and travelling on behalf of the NFDC. After his wife’s cancer treatment, he has made the decision that he must spend more time at home with his family, where he’s needed most. Duncan has worked tirelessly to modernise the Federation, support current members, and remove barriers to make it more accessible to new members, which has been successful. He has built greater ties and bonds with other industry representations, including the Institute of Demolition Engineers (IDE), the National Demolition Association (NDA), and the European Demolition Association (EDA), as well as regulators, in the push for transparency and better levels of competence. Duncan will be in post until the 21st of May 2025 and will remain an active participant in the NFDC but in a lesser role. The NFDC would like to express its deep gratitude to Duncan for his dedication, leadership, and the transformative impact he has had during his tenure. His contributions have strengthened the Federation’s position as a leading voice in the demolition industry and paved the way for continued growth and progress. The NFDC will provide further updates in due course. John Lynch NFDC President Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
New tool will help drive better social, environmental and economic outcomes for customers and local communities. Costain, the infrastructure solutions company, is rolling out a new social value tool designed to help delivery teams consistently measure and improve social impact and outcomes across all of its projects. Costain delivers social value across a range of activities including community engagement, volunteering, skills and knowledge sharing, and STEM advocacy. The tool, which has been successfully piloted on some of Costain’s projects in the water sector, offers the unique feature of standardising data-driven evidence of the positive societal and environmental impacts achieved during a project’s lifecycle. The collected data is then analysed and converted into social, environmental and economic valuations, aligning with the UK Government’s Social Value Model. In addition, the tool can report against bespoke frameworks when required by customers, making it possible to benchmark performance and outcomes against similar infrastructure schemes. It also has built-in forecasting capabilities which allow Costain to predict how much social value a project will deliver before it begins, in turn helping to improve the accuracy of target-setting and providing a better understanding of a project’s expected outcomes. Following its successful trial in Costain’s water sector, the tool will be implemented across all Costain’s sectors including road, rail, integrated transport, energy, and defence and nuclear energy. Catherine Warbrick, chief people and sustainability officer at Costain, commented: “We’re investing in the tools and technology that will help us improve people’s lives, both through the services we provide and in the way we operate. More accurately recording our social, economic and environmental outcomes will give us a better understanding of the impact we’re making, and ensure a positive, lasting legacy for the communities we serve.” Costain’s investment in the new tool comes after the company, celebrating its 160th anniversary in 2025, announced that it was donating a record number of volunteering days to improve people’s lives through better employment prospects and supporting community projects across the UK. Last year, Costain announced its Social Value Plan, which aims to improve the lives of one million people by 2030 through activities such as volunteering and community efforts. Recent social value initiatives have included: Commenting on the partnership with DDP and Costain, Paul Rowe, project manager, The Phoenix Youth Project, said: “Youth work has the power to improve people’s lives and promote positive outcomes for young people, but charities like ours rely on the support of organisations such as Costain to ensure we provide services that make a tangible difference. “Costain has been a supporter of our charity for several years and has enabled us to deliver youth work services to hundreds of young people each year. Both the Frizington and Egremont youth centres have been transformed from buildings that were unfit for use into modern, vibrant centres that the local community is hugely proud of.” Julie Francis, head of people and customer at CMDP, which has been trialling Costain’s social value tool, said: “At CMDP, we place a strong emphasis on social value and recognise the profound benefits of utilising technology and tools that benefit local communities and help our supply chain as we deliver crucial updates for Southern Water. With Costain’s social value tool, we are able to accurately capture key information and measure the impact of how our initiatives are improving people’s lives and helping the planet. The tool also empowers our supply chain partners, ensuring that we continue to work together to drive positive change and create lasting value.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Civil engineering tender prices increased by an average of 1% in the final quarter of 2024, according to a panel newly established by the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS). The BCIS Civil Engineering TPI panel has been formed to advise on the latest movement in tender prices, i.e. prices agreed between client and constructor at commit to construct, and to inform quarterly updates to the BCIS Civil Engineering Tender Price Index. Comprised of cost consultants from firms involved in multiple civil engineering tenders in the UK, the panel will also provide commentary on conditions affecting pricing levels on civil engineering projects. At its first meeting, panellists also agreed on a 4.7% average increase in civil engineering tender prices in the year to 4Q2024. Dr David Crosthwaite, BCIS chief economist, said: “It’s fantastic to see the Civil Engineering TPI panel up and running. From our UK building TPI panel and our Scottish tender price assessment and contractor panels, we know just how valuable the insights are that we get from experts working on multiple tenders. “They really help us to understand the context of what we see in the data and how different the tendering experience might be dependent on location, procurement route and sub-sector.” The panel described a generally positive pipeline of work for the next 12 months, though some projects remain at the mercy of government policy, for example the Lower Thames Crossing scheme, and in some cases are reliant on direct public sector expenditure. Panellists described a ‘wait and see’ approach in the market, with the results of phase 2 of the government’s spending review and the National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline due to be published later this year. Dr Crosthwaite added: “As is always the case, the sector needs clarity and commitment to schemes to properly plan and to give confidence to the supply chain. “When asked about contractors’ appetite to tender, the civil engineering TPI panellists described a similar profile to the building TPI panel, with risk aversion among contractors meaning suitable tenderers are found after searching, but they’re not seeing very eager contractors. This was particularly the case with larger projects, where there needs to be agreement about who carries the risk.” For more information about BCIS, please visit: www.bcis.co.uk. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
30-year-old among five new Fellowships awarded by the Institution of Civil Engineers. Costain, the infrastructure solutions company, is celebrating the achievements of five professionals who have been awarded Fellowship by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the highest grade of membership and a globally recognised mark of professional excellence. Fellowship is awarded in recognition of the significant contribution engineers have made to the profession and is an endorsement of leadership, knowledge, skills and experience. The list includes Georgia Thompson, who, at the age of 30, is the youngest woman ever to have achieved Fellowship. A chartered civil engineer and design manager currently working as part of Costain’s role as major project partner on the Heathrow Airport terminal asset renewal programme, Georgia has had previous engineering roles on HS2, Network Rail and Transport for London. Since 2023 Costain has successfully supported and coached 13 engineers through the ICE Fellowship application process as part of their career development. This is in addition to many other professional qualifications Costain supports across all levels and disciplines, with more than 450 chartered engineers across the organisation. In addition to Georgia, Costain professionals Simon Chaffer, Richard Helme, John Holding and Clive Glasspool also achieved ICE Fellowship last year. Georgia Thompson, civil engineer at Costain, commented: “It’s an honour to have achieved the highest level of ICE membership. At Costain, our purpose is to improve people’s lives and I’m incredibly proud to be recognised among a peer group of world class engineers that have made such a difference to society.” Katherine Etheridge, ICE regional director, London, South East, and East of England, said: “It’s a privilege to be part of our members’ professional journeys. The ICE’s purpose is to ensure people and planet have the infrastructure they need to thrive, and we can’t do that without our members expertise. Seeing them achieve Fellowship status is always exciting.” Andrew Threlfall, group chief engineer at Costain, said: “Congratulations to Georgia, Simon, Richard, John and Clive for achieving Fellowship status. At Costain, we place great importance on personal and professional growth and developing all our people to be the best they can be. Our engineering-led approach is vital to ensure we continue to deliver predictable, best-in-class sustainable infrastructure solutions for our customers.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Clegg Construction has commenced work to deliver a new primary school near Burton upon Trent. Drakelow Primary School will be part of a 2,200-home residential estate currently under construction by Countryside Partnerships on the former Drakelow power station site. The 420-pupil primary school, being built on Marley Way, has been designed to be flexible in use and meet a range of requirements. Both the indoor and outdoor areas will maximise the learning experience, with classrooms flowing onto outdoor teaching spaces to allow for integration of inside and outside teaching, linking to the main play area. New sports facilities, including a 3G pitch, will be included, as well as a habitat area to provide forest school experiences. The scheme will also feature a 26-place nursery and a 45-space staff car park. Drakelow Primary School is the latest in a long line of educational establishments to be delivered by Clegg Construction and is due for completion by the end of 2025. Designed by multi-disciplinary consultants ONE Creative environments, working closely with Clegg Construction, the school is sustainably located at the heart of the housing development, and adjacent to the forthcoming local centre, where parking will be provided in the future. The building’s heating capacity will be met by externally mounted air source heat pumps and the school will benefit from underfloor heating fed from a low-temperature hot water system from the central heat pump plant. Michael Sims, managing director at Clegg Construction, said: “We are very pleased to have started on site to deliver this new primary school in South Derbyshire which will serve the community currently being developed on the site of the former Drakelow Power Station. “Drakelow Primary School is a welcome addition to our strong portfolio of design and build schemes delivered across the education sector, and we are delighted to be part of the team appointed to create this important addition to the local community.” Clegg Construction has recently completed a £13m expansion project at Carlton le Willows Academy in Gedling, Nottingham – a multi-phase project that was highly commended in the regional LABC (Local Authority Building Control) Building Excellence Awards. Educational construction projects currently being delivered by the company include a £13.5m Centre for Green Technology at Peterborough College and a £8.8m Future Tech Skills and Knowledge Exchange at West Nottinghamshire College. During the development of Drakelow Primary School, the project will be registered with the Considerate Constructors Scheme and follow the CCS Code of Practice (Care for the Environment, Protect the Workforce, Respect the Community). Clegg Construction will also identify opportunities to engage with and enhance the local community and environment throughout its time on site. Plans are in place to minimise the impact of building work on those who already live in the area as well as newcomers moving into the new estate over the coming months; critical to this will be regular communication with the contractor leading the construction of the new homes. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
