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BHP has selected its largest Xplor cohort to date, backing 10 early-stage exploration and technology groups with a combined US$5 million in seed funding, with each participant eligible for US$500,000 equity-free plus access to BHP technical mentors. Tech recipients RadiXplore (Australia), Mineural and Discovery Genomics (Canada) and VectOres Science (US) are developing data analytics and genomics tools aimed largely at copper targeting, while exploration cohorts span uranium (FrontierX), copper-zinc (Orion Minerals), multi-commodity base metals (Litchfield Minerals), and copper-gold projects from South America to Indonesia. The inclusion of the Utah Geological Survey signals stronger integration of public geoscience datasets with private-sector targeting workflows.

Sizewell C has ramped up to more than 2,000 workers on enabling infrastructure just three months after financial close, ahead of a projected 8,000-strong peak workforce for the Suffolk nuclear plant. Early works include the first of three site-connecting bridges, new access roads and roundabouts, rail links, a beach landing facility, park-and-ride sites, and on-site worker accommodation. Construction is led by the Bylor JV of Bouygues Travaux Publics and Laing O’Rourke, with Balfour Beatty delivering supporting infrastructure and £3bn already awarded across 400+ UK suppliers.

Morgan Sindall Construction has begun a £16.2m, three-phase rebuild of the Burnside Secondary Pupil Referral Unit in Chingford, delivering two new blocks totalling 1,815 m² – a teaching block with six multi-purpose classrooms, a science lab and art & design studio, plus a hall and sports block with sports hall, dining room, food tech and fitness rooms – linked by a glazed corridor. Existing single-storey buildings will be demolished sequentially to keep the 48-place PRU operational, with handovers from late 2026 to spring 2028, and safeguarding measures including controlled public interaction and privacy in play areas. The design uses closed panel timber for insulation, solar PV, an air source heat pump system for net-zero operational carbon, and robust, damage-resistant finishes with muted colours and lighting to support pupil wellbeing.

Robert Purvis Plant Hire has expanded its Lochgelly-based fleet with 45 new Sany excavators, covering operating weights from 1 tonne to 8 tonnes for civils, utilities and general construction work. The package includes five SY10U micro excavators and 10 units each of the SY18C, SY26C, SY50U and SY80U models, giving a spread from compact machines for tight urban sites to larger units suited to heavier earthworks. For contractors, the move signals growing UK acceptance of Chinese-built plant in mainstream hire fleets, potentially shifting lifecycle cost and parts-support expectations.

Holcim UK has promoted former northern aggregates regional director Shaun Elliott to managing director for recycling, tasking him with maximising recycling performance and integrating it across the business. The company now operates eight recycling centres after acquiring PJ Thory, Gemmix, Pro Minimix and Thames Materials, expanding capacity to process construction and demolition materials into certified secondary aggregates and cementitious products. Globally, Holcim is targeting annual recycling of 20 million tonnes of CDM by 2030, lifting cement recycled content to 30% and using 70 million tonnes of waste and by-products as alternative fuels and raw materials.

The UK Concrete Show will return to Birmingham’s NEC on 25–26 March 2026 in Hall 17, bringing more than 170 exhibitors covering cementitious materials, admixtures, test equipment, pumps, volumetric and truck mixers, and digital monitoring solutions. New technical features include the Live Demo Zone for in-situ demonstrations of production, placement and finishing equipment, and an expanded Concrete Connect Seminar Theatre hosted by Susannah Streeter, with sessions on decarbonisation technologies, advanced carbons and lower‑carbon precast design. Suppliers range from Cormac Engineering’s Frumecar batching plants (30–150 m³/h, fixed and mobile, wet and dry) to Arrow kerbing machines and Betonblock steel block moulds.

Environment consultant Dalcour Maclaren has acquired Nailsworth-based geomatics specialist Geomap to deepen in-house surveying capability for water, waste and wider utilities projects. Geomap brings topographic, utility and drainage surveys, laser scanning, 3D modelling and photogrammetry, supplying survey-grade data for design, construction and asset management in complex, operationally constrained sites such as live treatment works and buried network corridors. The deal positions Dalcour Maclaren to deliver more integrated land, environmental and geospatial support on major infrastructure programmes focused on network resilience and environmental performance.

National Highways chief executive Nick Harris has reportedly been forced out after losing the board’s confidence following faulty motorway speed cameras that triggered 2,650 erroneous enforcement activations between 2021 and late 2024. The cameras led to thousands of incorrect speeding tickets, with National Highways now developing a data-checking tool and working with police to prevent further wrongful prosecutions, reimburse drivers and remove licence points. Transport secretary Heidi Alexander has ordered an independent investigation into the incident and its handling.

JRL Group has widened its pre-tax loss to £36.9m on £784.7m turnover over 16 months to 30 April 2025 and, following a £50m equity injection from Malaysia’s IJM, is launching a multi-year overhaul of its integrated delivery model. Core units J Reddington (groundworks and concrete frames), Midgard (main contracting) and McMullen Facades all remained loss-making, while London Tower Crane Hire & Sales delivered a £7.1m pre-tax profit on £57.7m revenue and Ark M&E Services and Thames Reinforcements also stayed in the black. The review will target overheads, operating centres, gross margins, offsite manufacturing and fixed-price risk allocation, underpinned by a £2bn order book and net assets of £113.2m.

Balfour Beatty Living Places has secured a seven-year, £315m highways maintenance contract from Warwickshire County Council, Coventry City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, covering more than 5,000 km of roads and cyclical maintenance of over 55,000 streetlights from spring 2026. The deal, Balfour Beatty’s third consecutive term since 2011, will employ around 160 staff at peak and could be extended by six years to 2039, lifting the total value to about £900m. For asset managers, the long-term framework supports planned pavement, lighting and public realm interventions rather than short-cycle reactive works.

Gateway 2 approval has been granted by the Building Safety Regulator for the first two higher-risk buildings in Viridis Living’s Fallowfield Campus redevelopment at the University of Manchester, both 14-storey blocks providing 205 and 207 beds. The consortium of Equitix, John Graham Construction and Derwent FM has submitted seven HRBs in total, with structural works on the first two to start this month after a 15-week turnaround from planning to approval. Key technical choices include a precast cross-wall system and extended concrete use for inherent fire resistance, within a 3,300-bed masterplan targeting Passivhaus certification at European scale and BREEAM Excellent.

Southern Water has launched a £1.3bn framework tender for sustainable drainage and habitat restoration across its catchment, targeting large-scale SuDS retrofits, nature-based flood management and river corridor enhancement. The multi-year programme will call for design-and-build teams to deliver measures such as swales, wetlands, infiltration basins and floodplain reconnection to cut surface water inflows to sewers and reduce CSO spills. Contractors will need strong geotechnical, hydrological and ecological capability, with emphasis on whole-catchment modelling and long-term asset performance.

Major UK construction and engineering firms are reshaping senior teams as staff return from the holiday period, with new appointments spanning civil engineering, project delivery and corporate leadership. Key moves include senior roles overseeing large infrastructure portfolios and complex construction programmes, signalling continued demand for experienced project directors and discipline leads. For practitioners, the churn at the top suggests potential shifts in procurement strategies, risk appetite and design standards on upcoming transport, water and urban regeneration schemes.

Transport for London will close the elevated A40 Westway between the Westway roundabout and Marylebone flyover from 20 March to late April for safety‑critical renewal of the 1960s viaduct structure. Works are expected to focus on concrete and steel bridge elements, including deck waterproofing, expansion joints and corrosion‑affected components, to maintain load capacity on this key dual three‑lane route into central London. The month‑long closure will force significant diversion of HGV and commuter traffic, with temporary traffic management likely to affect adjacent arterial routes and local access.

Network Rail has issued a pipeline notice for Track Focused Railway Systems Contracts worth up to £5bn to deliver track renewals, upgrades and associated rail systems works across the UK network in Control Periods 8 and 9 (2028–2039). The programme will bundle multi-disciplinary activities—track, signalling interfaces and related civil works—into long-term Rail Systems Alliances. Contractors should expect large-scale, regionally packaged frameworks with sustained volumes of plain line and S&C renewals, demanding robust possession planning and standardised design to manage whole-life asset performance.

Skanska has completed Anglian Water’s first integrated constructed treatment wetland at Everton Water Recycling Centre in Bedfordshire, designed to strip phosphorus and iron from final effluent using a nature‑based flow path rather than chemical dosing. The wetland forms part of the WRC outfall stream, using engineered reed beds and controlled hydraulic residence times to polish treated wastewater before discharge. For civil and water engineers, the scheme signals growing scope for low‑energy, passive treatment trains to meet tightening nutrient consents on small to medium works.

BHP has expanded its Xplor accelerator to its largest cohort yet, selecting 10 early-stage exploration and technology companies for the 2026 intake in the programme’s fourth year. The group combines junior explorers, geoscience organisations and tech teams aimed at covering the full “discovery system”, from targeting through to resource definition. For geoscientists and project developers, the move signals stronger backing for early-stage concepts and integrated data-driven exploration workflows under a major’s umbrella.

Orca Fuel Solutions and VERIDAPT will present an integrated fuel management platform at Investing in African Mining Indaba 2026 in Cape Town from 9–12 February, targeting tighter control of diesel use across African mine sites. The partnership combines Orca’s on-site storage and dispensing hardware with VERIDAPT’s real-time monitoring, automation and data analytics to track fuel from bulk delivery to individual assets. For operators, the pitch is reduced fuel theft and shrinkage, auditable Scope 1 emissions data, and better optimisation of haul truck and plant fuel consumption.

IMDEX has taken full ownership of Australian geoscience analytics firm Datarock Holdings, moving from its earlier 51% stake (built between November 2021 and July 2024) to 100% control to deepen its AI-driven subsurface characterisation offering. Datarock’s cloud-based tools for automated core logging, drillhole imagery analysis and 3D geological modelling will be integrated with IMDEX’s existing drilling optimisation and downhole sensing platforms. The deal targets faster turnaround from raw drill data to resource models for mining, energy and civil projects, with more consistent logging and reduced manual interpretation.

Global Tailings Management Institute has appointed Ed Toms as its inaugural CEO and created a Technical Committee to drive implementation of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management across diverse jurisdictions and legacy facilities. The independent body, formed after the Brumadinho failure and ICMM/UNEP/PRI standard-setting, is tasked with supporting operators on governance, independent review, and performance metrics for high-consequence tailings storage facilities. For geotechnical and mining engineers, this signals tighter scrutiny of dam design, monitoring, and closure practices against a globally benchmarked framework.

A new electric bus depot has opened in Preston, Melbourne, incorporating a Victorian-first overhead gantry charging system to maximise yard space and increase charging capacity for Zero-Emission Buses (ZEBs). The gantry layout removes the need for individual ground-mounted chargers beside each bay, allowing denser bus parking and simplified cable management for future fleet expansion. The facility is a key node in Victoria’s shift from diesel to ZEB operations as the state targets net zero emissions by 2045, with implications for high-load electrical supply design and depot pavement performance under changed traffic patterns.

Victoria’s completion of the Metro Tunnel ‘Big Switch’ integrates the twin nine‑kilometre tunnels and five new underground stations into Melbourne’s network, enabling more than 1200 additional weekly train services. Peak frequencies on key corridors including the Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines now reach trains every three minutes through the tunnel, materially increasing track and signalling utilisation. New regional rail services and revised bus timetables will shift passenger loads across the network, with implications for station access design, intermodal interfaces and surrounding urban infrastructure.

Queensland Mining & Engineering Exhibition (QME) 2026 has expanded its outdoor exhibition area after the initial floor space sold out, opening more room for full-scale surface and underground equipment displays. OEMs and service providers are expected to bring large plant such as 100-tonne-class haul trucks, drill rigs and modular processing units that cannot be accommodated indoors, enabling live demonstrations of manoeuvrability, noise levels and dust-control systems. For mine planners and maintenance teams, the enlarged outdoor zone offers direct comparison of fleet options and support gear under realistic operating conditions.

Motion’s Fluid Power Solutions (FPS) Mobile Workshops are providing rapid on-site hydraulic hose repairs for mine sites using Gates and Exitflex hose systems carried in truck-mounted service units. The vehicles are fitted with crimping, cutting and pressure-testing equipment, allowing technicians to fabricate and replace high-pressure hoses in situ rather than sending components off-site. For maintenance planners, this model reduces unplanned downtime on critical assets such as excavators and haul trucks and supports more flexible hose management in remote pits and processing areas.