Work to extend HS2’s longest cut-and-cover “green tunnel” near Greatworth, West Northamptonshire has advanced after engineers realigned a local road to create the working width needed for the next excavation phase. The realignment allows construction teams to continue forming the reinforced concrete box that will later be buried and landscaped to restore agricultural land and visual screening over the railway. For designers and contractors, the sequence underlines the importance of early highway diversions to maintain traffic while maximising safe access for deep excavation and heavy plant.

The Department for Infrastructure has opened procurement for a £48M first-phase flood‑alleviation scheme in Portadown, targeting repeated inundation along the River Bann and its tributaries. The works will form part of a long‑planned programme to protect the town, which has seen multiple significant flood events over recent decades affecting residential, commercial and transport assets. Contractors will be bidding into a DfI‑led framework where fluvial hydraulics, floodwall and embankment design, and integration with existing river defences will be central to winning strategies.

Luton Airport’s expansion, including raising its passenger cap from 18M to 32M a year and adding a new terminal, can proceed after the High Court dismissed a legal challenge to the transport secretary’s development consent order. The scheme, promoted by Luton Rising, entails significant airfield, apron and landside works, plus upgrades to the M1–A1081 corridor and local rail/bus interchanges. Campaign group LADACAN is now considering an appeal, prolonging uncertainty for detailed phasing, surface access design and environmental mitigation commitments.