Geomechanics.io

Ramboll has appointed Simon Jefferson as water sector lead for the UK and Ireland, tasking him with heading its regional water practice and steering major programmes focused on sustainability and resilience in regulated networks. With 20 years’ senior commercial experience across client and contractor organisations and over a decade in a regulated water business, Jefferson will target closer engagement with utilities and regulators, stronger supply chain partnerships and clearer commercial value on complex water infrastructure schemes. The move signals Ramboll’s intent to expand its role as a key delivery partner on long-term water investment cycles.

Lima Construction Limited has been fined £50,000, plus £11,347 costs, after worker Antonio Rodrigues fell three metres through an unglazed, unprotected Juliet-door window void onto an internal concrete floor during a former department store redevelopment in New Malden. The HSE found the principal contractor failed to install temporary boarding or internal scaffold guard rails over the newly formed openings and stopped carrying out the legally required weekly scaffold inspections after 5 July 2022. Inspectors stressed that straightforward edge protection at the time the voids were created would likely have prevented the fatal fall.

Rolls-Royce is establishing Pioneer Works in Derby as a non-nuclear manufacturing development centre to define build processes, precision assembly and advanced testing for its factory-built Small Modular Reactor (SMR) fleet planned for the UK, Czechia and Sweden. The facility, due to open later this year, will run specialist engineering and manufacturing projects that de-risk first-of-a-kind SMR deployment before work moves to production sites. Around 40 long-term roles in advanced engineering, welding, testing and manufacturing development will also make the site a primary training hub for the SMR supply chain.

Kevin Hayes has been elected managing partner of multidisciplinary engineering consultancy Cundall for a four‑year term, succeeding Carole O’Neil under the firm’s rotating leadership model. The role gives Hayes strategic oversight of Cundall’s global building services, structural, geotechnical and infrastructure teams, which work on complex projects from deep basements to high‑rise and rail systems. Leadership continuity and partner election are likely to influence long‑term investment in digital design tools, low‑carbon materials and ground engineering capability across the practice.

Balfour Beatty, M Group, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, Murphy and Omexom Taylor Woodrow have secured a £1.2bn National Grid Electricity Transmission Partnership phase focused on increasing overhead line capacity across the UK network. The framework will centre on new and uprated OHL assets, including tower upgrades and conductor replacement, to move more power from new generation hubs into demand centres. Contractors will need to manage live-grid interfaces, constrained wayleaves and foundation works around existing steel lattice towers, with programme delivery likely to drive demand for specialist OHL plant and experienced lines crews.

Volvo Construction Equipment has delivered the first A30 Electric articulated haulers globally to Norwegian contractor LNS (Leonhard Nilsen & Sønner AS) for deployment on a Hafslund hydroelectric power project. The battery-electric A30 units will operate in tunnelling and haulage roles traditionally handled by diesel A30G trucks, eliminating local exhaust emissions in underground headings and reducing ventilation demand. For mine and tunnel designers, the move signals growing OEM support for zero‑emission haulage fleets in confined infrastructure and hydropower works.

Georgiou has secured an $11.6 million contract from Blacktown City Council to build the Pelican Road Bridge in Schofields, New South Wales. The project centres on a 36‑metre‑long road bridge over Eastern Creek, creating a new vehicular crossing within one of Western Sydney’s fastest‑growing residential corridors. For civil and geotechnical teams, the job will involve creek-span foundations and floodplain interface works in a rapidly urbanising catchment, with construction staging likely constrained by adjacent local roads and existing services.

Seymour Whyte has been awarded the contract to build a new durable crossing at Mitchells Causeway on the Great Western Highway at Victoria Pass, restoring the key freight and commuter link between the Blue Mountains and Central West. The New South Wales Government has committed $50 million to upgrade detour routes that have carried traffic since sections of the highway were closed on 12 March, signalling ongoing reliance on temporary alignments until the new structure is in place. For designers and contractors, staging, flood resilience and heavy vehicle load performance on the new crossing will be critical.

Recently completed upgrades at Quito’s Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Ecuador deliver higher-capacity airside and landside infrastructure while targeting lower whole-life carbon and faster build times. Works reportedly focused on optimising construction sequencing in a high-altitude, seismically active setting and integrating more efficient pavements, terminal systems and energy use. For civil and geotechnical teams, the project offers a reference for phasing major airfield works under live-operations constraints and for embedding sustainability metrics into design and construction planning.

Pothole-related breakdowns reported to the RAC in February averaged 225 per day, more than five times the 2025 daily average of 43, signalling rapid deterioration of UK carriageway surfaces. The spike points to accelerated fatigue and ravelling in asphalt layers under repeated freeze–thaw and heavy axle loads, with defects progressing from fretting to full-depth potholes before scheduled maintenance cycles. For highway engineers, the figures reinforce the need to reassess intervention thresholds, drainage performance and resurfacing frequencies within constrained local authority budgets.

Plans for Forest City 1 (FC1), a proposed new urban hub in Cambridgeshire, envisage a dedicated metro system, a small modular reactor (SMR) for local low‑carbon power, and a coastal desalination plant to balance its water demand. The concept implies substantial new linear infrastructure, with metro corridors and power and water transmission routes needing early safeguarding in predominantly rural, low‑lying ground. For engineers, the combination of SMR siting, long water pipelines from the coast, and potential tunnelling for metro alignments will drive geotechnical risk, consents strategy and upfront capital costs.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority has opened procurement for a £75M professional services framework to support transport schemes across the region from 2027 to 2032. The framework will appoint multidisciplinary consultants to provide planning, design and project management for highways, public transport and active travel projects, feeding into business cases and detailed design. Geotechnical, structures and highways teams should note the long, five-year pipeline and position for packages covering ground investigation, pavement design and junction or corridor upgrades.

Hitachi Energy has secured a €770M (£664M) contract from Terna and STEG to design and build two converter stations for the first high-voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnection between Italy and Tunisia. The scheme will use voltage source converter technology to link the Italian and Tunisian transmission grids, enabling controllable power flows between the two synchronous areas. Civil and geotechnical packages will need to accommodate large converter halls, high electromagnetic loading, and complex earthing systems at both coastal sites.

Record June temperatures across the UK are driving peak water demand, forcing utilities to increase treated water output and deploy extra network teams to maintain pressure in trunk mains and service reservoirs. Companies are running additional boreholes and treatment works where licensed, using tanker support to reinforce low‑margin distribution zones, and closely monitoring critical nodes via SCADA to avoid localised outages. Engineers are being asked to minimise non-essential site water use, delay high-demand activities such as mains flushing where possible, and prepare contingency plans for further heat events this summer.

Dredging contractor Jan De Nul Australia has secured a $50 million Western Australia Government-backed contract from Pilbara Ports to construct the new Zone 5 Bypass Channel at Port Hedland. The channel is designed to divert traffic from the main shipping channel used by iron ore carriers, improving vessel separation and reducing congestion in one of the world’s highest-tonnage bulk export ports. For marine and port engineers, the works will involve large-scale capital dredging in highly tidal, sediment-laden conditions, with implications for berth access, navigation risk and cyclone-resilience planning.

Galliford Try infrastructure divisional managing director David Lowery says the contractor is gearing up for a multi‑year surge in UK infrastructure spend across highways, water and energy sectors, stressing the need to tighten project delivery. He points to a growing pipeline under the Road Investment Strategy and AMP8 water programmes, where complex, multi‑stakeholder schemes and NEC contract frameworks are putting schedule and cost risk under scrutiny. Lowery emphasises earlier contractor involvement, better digital design coordination and stronger supply chain integration as core levers to control interfaces and programme risk.

Transport for London has appointed Amey and Egis to separate long-term infrastructure frameworks to support major upgrade and renewal works across the capital’s transport network. The frameworks are expected to cover multi-disciplinary design, asset management and construction support for complex rail, road and station projects, including tunnels, bridges and signalling interfaces. For contractors and consultants, the awards signal a pipeline of TfL work being channelled through these two integrators, with procurement and design coordination likely to be routed via their framework teams.

An electricity margin alert issued during the latest UK heatwave is prompting civil engineering and construction firms to review on‑site power resilience as National Grid ESO warns of tighter capacity when air‑conditioning and cooling loads spike. Contractors are being urged to assess diesel generator sizing, fuel storage autonomy and the integration of battery units or temporary solar to maintain crane, batching plant and dewatering operations during potential grid constraints. For major infrastructure sites with high peak loads, planners may need revised load‑shedding strategies and more robust contingency power in method statements and risk assessments.

A $7.3 million contract has been awarded to local contractor DAC Enterprises to upgrade the four-way intersection of Warrego and Kaczinsky Roads on the Stuart Highway, north of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory. Works will focus on reconfiguring the junction geometry and pavement to improve traffic flow and heavy-vehicle movements on this key north–south freight corridor. For designers and contractors, the job signals continued Federal–NT funding into regional highway upgrades, with scope for improved drainage, shoulder widening and safety barrier installations in expansive soil conditions.

Atlas Copco has launched the towable FCS 220-240 mobile rapid charging station, delivering 232kWh with over 220 kW DC and 50 kW AC outputs in a 3.5‑tonne, IP55-rated unit for excavators, loaders, trucks and other site equipment. Customer trials report up to five extra operating hours from one hour of charging, with multiple connectors for simultaneous charging and Dynamic Load Management to balance EV demand with up to 50 kW of auxiliary site loads. Charge-to-recharge capability, RFID-based multi-level access control, OCPP support and remote monitoring target rental fleets and remote or grid-constrained worksites.

Overton Electrical Services has been appointed to deliver mechanical and electrical works for Vodafone retail outlets as they rebrand to VodafoneThree following the planned 2025 merger. The nationwide programme covers electrical power and lighting, HVAC, structured data cabling and fire alarm installations, with each store receiving a bespoke fit-out to suit local operational and technical constraints. For contractors and building services engineers, the roll-out signals sustained demand for fast-track, multi-site retail M&E upgrades with tight phasing and live-trading interfaces.

McLaren Construction (Midlands and North) has completed the 545,000 sq ft Panattoni Park Swindon logistics scheme on the former Honda site in a 39‑week programme, using early supply chain engagement on steel frame and cladding to hold schedule. Sustainability measures included cement replacement in concrete, recycled steel, precast walling, lift cores and stair units, plus a cut‑and‑fill earthworks balance to reuse excavated material and segregated smart waste management. The project scored 43/45 under the Considerate Constructors Scheme, supported seven trade apprentices and delivered high-spec logistics space with premium office fit-out.

Tungsten Properties has secured £19m from a UK family office and appointed Magrock Construction as main contractor for Tungsten Park Filton, a 4.55-acre industrial estate fronting the A38 near Junction 16 of the M5 and Junction 20 of the M4. The scheme will deliver five Grade A mid-box units from 10,200 sq ft to 30,000 sq ft with first-floor offices, generous yard depths and high power provision to relieve Bristol’s constrained mid-box supply. Design targets include BREEAM ‘Excellent’, EPC A, rooftop PV, EV charging, SuDS features and extensive landscaping.

Robertson Construction has begun building a £750m national supercomputer facility at the University of Edinburgh, funded by UK Research and Innovation to host the UK’s next-generation high‑performance computing system. The project will require substantial power and cooling infrastructure, including high‑capacity electrical supply, dense server hall fit‑out and advanced mechanical services, placing tight tolerances on structural vibration control and floor loading. Civil and building engineers will need to integrate resilience measures for continuous 24/7 operation, including redundancy in power distribution, chilled water networks and data‑centre‑grade fire protection.