First Olympic building finished

EDF Energy Contracting has completed construction on the first building on the Olympic Park.

The site's new Primary Electrical Substation will supply electricity to the Olympic Park and the Stratford City development.

The substation is located in Kings Yard in the west of the Olympic Park and will distribute electricity across the Olympic Park and Stratford City site through new electrical networks consisting of more than 100km of electrical cabling.

Construction work began in December 2007 and the substation is now operational and will start supplying electricity to the Stratford City site next month, with the Olympic Stadium set to be the first Olympic Park venue to receive electricity early next year.

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ODA Director of Utilities and Infrastructure Simon Wright said: "Completing the first building on the Olympic Park site on schedule is a major milestone and shows that we are making good progress not only on the main sporting venues for 2012 but also on the backbone of essential new utilities infrastructure. The electricity substation will serve the lifetime of the 2012 project - powering construction work on the Olympic Park site, serving venues during the Games in 2012, and delivering essential new services for generations to come."

The substation takes power from the upstream 132,000 volt electrical network outside the Olympic Park site. Main transformers within the substation then вЂstep-down’ the power to 11,000 volts so that it can be distributed and used by venues and buildings across the Park and in the Stratford City development.

A clear emphasis was put on the architectural designs of the electrical substation to ensure the structure fit in with the design of the wider Olympic Park. The electrical substation was designed by EDF Energy with specialist support from Andrews Associates for the structural design elements and NORD Architecture (a Glasgow-based practice that won the prestigious Young Architect of the Year Award in 2006) for the external architectural features.

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Go-ahead looms for £400m Scottish power line

The go-ahead for a ВЈ400m power line supported by 600 pylons is expected to be given by the Scottish government in the next few weeks.

BBC Scotland said the link from Beauly to Denny will get the green light despite more than 18,000 objections being lodged.

The upgraded power line would connect renewable power projects in the Highlands to the national grid and run from Beauly near Inverness to Denny near Falkirk.

It would carry 400,000 volts (400kV), replacing the existing 132kV line, which runs along a similar route.

Supporters, including Labour and the Green party, say the scheme should be approved to help meet renewable energy commitments.

But concerns have been raised over the impact to landscape of the 200ft pylons and a lack of detail over alternative options.

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The controversial plan has been the subject of a public inquiry and the Scottish government has had that inquiry's report since February.

Labour's leader at Holyrood, Iain Gray MSP, said: "We want to see this upgrade go ahead as quickly as possible and it is disappointing that the SNP have taken far too long to make their mind up.

"Scotland needs a government that will take much bolder action in order to boost our renewable energy sector and tackle climate change emissions."
 
The Green party's Patrick Harvie told BBC Scotland's Politics Show: "It has taken a very long time to get this decision out, we still haven't heard it and I think that's regrettable. We need to be pressing on and getting the work done."

But Dennis Canavan, former MSP and current president of Ramblers Association Scotland, told the programme: "If it does get the go-ahead then it will be an unacceptable act of vandalism.

"In Scotland we're very blessed, we've got some of the most scenic countryside in the world.

"It's a national asset, it's something that we should be looking after not just for ourselves but for future generations."

Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife, said: "There will be many people across our local communities who are extremely concerned about the news that the Scottish Government is going to push ahead with this project.

"There is no doubt about the need for an upgrade to our electricity grid but I have never been convinced that other alternatives, especially upgrading the east coast route or building undersea cables, were properly examined."

A Scottish government spokesman said: "Ministers will make a decision on the Beauly-Denny power line before the end of this year taking into account all relevant factors."

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Carillion joins forces with Eiffage for nuclear work

Carillion has forged an alliance with French company Eiffage to deliver new nuclear power stations in the UK.

Carillion and Eiffage will work together to deliver a new fleet of Pressurised Water Reactors to replace the existing fleet of reactors.

Carillion and Eiffage have worked together previously to deliver projects including the Channel Tunnel and Copenhagen Metro.

Adam Green, Managing Director of Carillion Infrastructure said: "Our complimentary skills, capability and experience makes Carillion Eiffage ideally placed to support clients with their new build programmes.   We share a common approach that builds long-term relationships with our customers".

Jean Guenard, President of Eiffage TP said: "We are at the beginning of what we hope is a long and exciting journey for both organisations.”

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Eiffage is one of Europe’s leading construction and concessions groups formed in 1992 through the amalgamation of several companies: Fougerolle (founded 1844), Quillery (founded 1863), Beugnet (founded 1871) and La Societe Auxiliaire d' Enterprises Electriques et de Travaux Publics (founded in 1924), main suppliers to the French nuclear programme.

Recent projects by Eiffage include the Millau Viaduct and the LGV Perpignan-Figueras high-speed railway line due to open in 2009.

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MoJ shortlists seven consortia for £1.8bn prisons framework

The Ministry of Justice has shortlisted seven consortia to compete on a ВЈ1.8bn framework to design, build and operate five new 1500-place prisons.

The seven lead consortia will now be invited by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) to submit a tender for inclusion on the framework.

The seven consortia are:

G4S/Carillion GEO Group/Balfour Beatty Kalyx/Interserve Mitie/Laing O'Rourke Reliance/Bouygues Serco/Skanska Wates Construction

This news comes after Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw announced plans in April for the first two of five new 1,500 place prisons - one on the site of the former Runwell Secure Psychiatric Hospital in Essex and one at Beam Park West, Dagenham.

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All the new prisons in the building programme will be privately constructed and operated under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI).
The aim is to create 7,500 new prison places. The duration of the PFI contracts awarded under this framework will range between 20 and 40 years.

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Terex posts £62m loss in third quarter

Terex made a ВЈ62.1m net loss in the third quarter compared with a profit of ВЈ56.5m for the same period last year on sales around half the 2008 level at ВЈ739m.

Sales in the construction sector were down by 56% with the division making an operating loss of almost ВЈ36m and sales of aerial work platforms were hit even harder registering a 66% drop with the business losing ВЈ30m. The materials processing and mining division saw sales fall by 49% but made an operating profit of ВЈ3.25m while the cranes business fared relatively well suffering a downturn of only 38% to record a profit of ВЈ7.23m.

“This was a disappointing quarter but we feel that we are turning the corner to better performance,” said Ron DeFeo, Terex chairman and chief executive officer. He said virtually no part of the business was unscathed but believes certain markets have stabilized and there even a few signs of growth.

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Plumber wins job in Antarctic

Plumber Mark Green has beaten 2,000 rivals to win his dream job working next to the South Pole at the Halley research station.

Green is joining the British Antarctic Survey on the Bunt Ice Shelf to maintain their heating, water and loos 800 miles from the South Pole.

He flies out to start the 15 month contract on November 10 leaving behind his wife Anna and son Jake in Bristol.

Green told the Daily Mirror: "I just can't wait. The farthest I've been before is Spain. But when I heard of this job on the radio I knew I'd always regret it if I didn't have a go."
 
Apart from 10 scientists and 42 other support staff - picked from record number of credit crunch work-seekers - his closest neighbours will be emperor penguins as he works on pipes in shafts up to 20 metres below the two-metre snow.

The British Antarctic Survey has been researching the icy continent for more than 60 years and has 400 staff and three stations there.

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Crane driver paralysed in accident

It has been confirmed that Iain Gillham, driver of the tower crane which collapsed on a Bowmer & Kirkland site Liverpool in July, will never walk again.

Until last week doctors were unsure of the long term effect of Gillham injuries, which included a fractured skull and a fractured spine, but have now confirmed he is paralysed from the waist down. Gillham, who is employed by the crane’s owner HTC, was in intensive care for four and a half weeks following the accident. 

He told the BBC he has no recollection of the incident in which he was thrown from the cab of the 60m high Wolff 500 tower crane and was rescued from the debris of a block of flats partially demolished by the crane’s counterweight.

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HTC’s group safety director David Faulds told CJ the company would strive to find Gillham work for when he is fit enough to return and confirmed that he has remained on full pay since the accident happened. “Unfortunately he can’t go back to crane driving but we will endeavour to keep him, perhaps as a trainer, although that decision will have to be made in consultation with him when he’s ready to return,” said Faulds.

The HSE’s investigation into the cause of the accident is concentrating on the lower tower sections and the foundations. 

 

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