Geomechanics.io

The Department for Transport has released a national climate adaptation strategy for Britain’s transport system, setting out how rail, road, ports and aviation infrastructure should cope with more frequent flooding, heatwaves and coastal erosion. Measures include requiring asset owners to embed climate risk into design standards and renewals, prioritising resilience upgrades on critical corridors and interchanges, and improving data on weather-related failures. For geotechnical and civil engineers, this signals tighter expectations on drainage capacity, slope stability, track and pavement performance under extreme temperatures, and long-term asset monitoring.

Mott MacDonald is overhauling its long‑standing employee ownership model so that all 18,000 staff, including site engineers and project managers, hold a direct financial stake in the consultancy’s performance. Chair and chief executive James Harris says the new structure is intended to “fundamentally change” behaviours by linking rewards more tightly to project outcomes, from major UK rail and water frameworks to international tunnelling and bridge schemes. For contractors and clients, the shift signals a push for stronger accountability on programme, cost and technical delivery across multidisciplinary design teams.

Capricorn Metals’ Karlawinda gold project in Western Australia delivered strong December quarter output, positioning the operation to hit the upper end of its FY26 production guidance. The single-open-pit, carbon-in-leach operation near Newman has been running consistently above nameplate throughput on its 5 Mtpa processing plant, with stable mill availability and recoveries. Management signals that mine scheduling and grade control in the Bibra pit are supporting sustained ore feed quality, with further optimisation of drilling and blasting planned into 2026.

A proposed framework from the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) urges the Federal Government to establish a national strategic reserve for critical minerals, with rare earths as the initial focus. The plan centres on stockpiling processed products such as NdPr oxide and separated heavy rare earths, rather than unprocessed ore, to buffer supply shocks in defence, EV and grid-scale magnet supply chains. AMEC also calls for long-term offtake contracts and storage facilities co-located with existing processing hubs to anchor new Australian rare earth projects.

Ramelius Resources has opened FY26 with December quarter gold production of 45,610oz, keeping it on track to meet full-year guidance and underpin expansion plans at its Mt Magnet and Edna May operations in Western Australia. The company is progressing studies on higher-grade underground feed beneath the Stellar and Eridanus pits at Mt Magnet and evaluating a potential cutback at Edna May to extend open-pit life. Consistent output at current all-in sustaining cost levels will be critical for funding any new decline development and mill upgrades without additional equity.

BlueScope has rejected an A$8.8 billion takeover bid from Steel Dynamics and SGH, which offered A$30 per share and proposed splitting the business, with Steel Dynamics taking North American operations and SGH retaining the rest. The board argued the offer undervalued assets including five North American businesses that delivered about 45% of FY2025 revenue, a steel mill in Ohio located roughly 130 km from a Steel Dynamics facility, and nearly 100 Australian sites generating A$6.95 billion in domestic sales. The decision comes amid 50% US steel import tariffs and BlueScope’s parallel interest in acquiring the Whyalla steelworks with partners Nippon Steel and Posco.

Gold prices jumped 2.2% to $4,430/oz on 5 January after the US military raid that captured President Nicolás Maduro, extending a 2025 rally that saw records up to $4,547/oz and prompting BMI to lift its 2026 forecast to $3,700/oz. BMI and BloombergNEF note Venezuela’s mining output has collapsed over 2004–2024, with iron ore down from 20 Mt to 2 Mt, bauxite from 5 Mt to 0.3 Mt and coal to under 0.5 Mt, amid nationalisation, degraded infrastructure and security risks. Prospects hinge on poorly explored critical minerals in the Arco Minero del Orinoco, where absent geological data, criminal control and competing oil investment mean only exceptional deposits are likely to draw capital even under a reformist regime.

Recent drilling at Revival Gold’s past-producing Mercur project in Utah has returned shallow oxide-style intercepts suited to heap leach, including 25.9 metres grading 1.8 g/t gold from 6.1 metres in hole RM25-144 and 21.9 metres at 1.3 g/t from 16.8 metres in RMC25-019. A pre-feasibility study is planned this year on a 10-year, 95,000 oz./yr operation requiring an estimated $208 million capex, with environmental baseline work and archaeological mitigation planning now underway. Revival has also initiated metallurgical test programmes, is rehabilitating historic water supply wells, and has appointed veteran engineer Timothy Barnett as Mercur general manager.

Gold has overtaken US Treasuries as the largest foreign reserve asset for the first time since 1996, with central bank gold holdings nearing $4 trillion versus roughly $3.9 trillion in US bonds, driven by a 70% surge in gold prices in 2025 and spot levels around $4,500/oz. The World Gold Council expects net official-sector purchases of about 1,000 tonnes in 2025, signalling sustained bullion demand despite record prices. Analysts link the shift to de-dollarisation and concerns over US fiscal sustainability and political polarisation.

Critical Metals has approved a turnkey contract to build a multi-use storage and pilot facility in Qaqortoq, Greenland, engineered for Arctic conditions and scheduled to be operational by May 2026 to support its Tanbreez rare earth project. The Tanbreez deposit hosts at least 45 million tonnes of resources in kakortokite, with a PEA indicating a pre-tax NPV of roughly $2.8–$3.6 billion, an IRR of 180%, and phased output from 85,000 to 425,000 tonnes of rare earth oxides per year. Critical Metals has already secured offtake agreements for about three-quarters of projected concentrate production and is converting a local residential property into a permanent office and operations base.

Chinalco Peru has opened a 1,000 m² Integrated Operations Management Centre (GIO) in Lima to remotely manage its Toromocho open-pit copper mine, centralising planning, dispatch, processing and maintenance functions offsite. The GIO links real-time data, control systems and technical teams in the capital with mine operations at over 4,500 m elevation, aiming to standardise decision-making and reduce on-mine control room footprint. In parallel, Chinalco is progressing drill automation at Toromocho, moving towards remotely supervised, semi-autonomous production drilling.

Davies Crane Hire has completed a three-unit order for Liebherr LTM 1060-3.1 all terrain cranes, standardising its three-axle fleet on the 60-tonne model. Each crane carries a 48-metre main boom plus a 9.5–16 metre double swingaway fly jib, giving up to 63 metres hoist height and a 48-metre maximum lifting radius. The units remain UK road legal with the full 12.8 tonnes of counterweight on board, simplifying mobilisation for bridge, precast and heavy plant lifts.

Hillhouse Quarry Group, one of Scotland’s largest privately owned aggregates and asphalt producers, has appointed former NATS chief financial officer Alistair Borthwick as chief executive and promoted long-serving commercial director Mark Munro to managing director. The leadership change follows the planned April retirement of managing director Robert McNaughton, who led the family-run business for 18 years as it expanded from an Ayrshire quarry operator into a national group and entered Scotland’s top 100 private companies. For contractors and materials buyers, the move signals continuity in long-term supply relationships and pricing strategy, with added financial discipline from Borthwick’s infrastructure background.

Whitbread has acquired a fully serviced freehold plot on Bognor Road, beside the A27/A259 junction in Chichester, to build an 82‑bedroom Premier Inn, adding to its existing 83‑room hotel at Gate Leisure Park. The brownfield site, a former World War II fuel depot, required full remediation plus a new slip lane and signalised junction off the A259, a bus stop, a 220‑metre estate road and services driven under the A27 before sale. Construction is scheduled to start this spring, with Whitbread’s in‑house team leading delivery.

Plans submitted by Mollie’s Motels propose a 207-room budget hotel on a 0.63-hectare plot at the southern edge of Edinburgh Park, marking the group’s first Scottish development. The scheme, designed by 3D Reid Architects with planning input from Lichfields and Amicus Property Consultants, targets an estimated £38.6m GVA during the construction phase alone. For civil and geotechnical teams, the business-park edge location suggests typical brownfield constraints, integration with existing utilities and transport links, and tight site logistics on a relatively small footprint.

Allison Homes South West has appointed Mark Holland as technical director in Devon, tasking him with overseeing all technical design and delivery for its regional residential and regeneration schemes in locations such as Plymouth and St Austell. With 35 years’ experience at major UK volume housebuilders, Holland will focus on strengthening pre-construction technical groundwork, supporting site start-ups and coordinating design teams. A key part of his remit is preparing schemes for upcoming regulatory shifts, including compliance with the Future Homes Standard and wider sustainability requirements.

CIBSE has unveiled a refreshed brand identity, replacing its traditional serif logo featuring a collared, backward-facing hawk and flaming torch with a simplified, torch-free hawk facing forwards in a sans serif design. Chief executive Ruth Carter says the update, including a new strapline and visual style, is intended to make the institution more accessible and relevant to international communities and modern building services practice. The change signals CIBSE’s intent to engage more actively with a global, digitally focused membership base across building performance, energy and services engineering.

UK construction output contracted every month of 2025, with the S&P Global UK Construction PMI at 40.1 in December, its second-lowest level since May 2020 and well below the neutral 50.0 threshold. Civil engineering was the weakest segment at 32.9, while housing (33.5) and commercial work (42.0) saw their fastest declines since May 2020 amid delayed post‑Budget investment decisions and fragile client confidence. Despite sharp falls in new orders, employment and input buying, 37% of firms expect higher output in 2026, citing planned utilities, water and energy infrastructure schemes and anticipated lower borrowing costs.

Clegg Construction has secured Building Safety Regulator Gateway 2 approval for a £46m, 12-storey concrete-frame build-to-rent block with 267 apartments on Nursery Street, Sheffield, for Liverpool-based developer Brickland. The approval confirms the high-rise design, led by architect Hadfield Cawkwell Davidson with Ridge as built environment consultant and Futurserv for MEP, satisfies the new higher-risk building regime, allowing enabling works to start this month. For contractors and designers, it shows full BSR scrutiny is now a practical gateway for similar multi-storey residential schemes.

A construction worker suffered multiple fractures and a dislocated shoulder after a newly built wall collapsed and knocked him through an unprotected stairwell opening, causing a 2.5–3 metre fall onto a concrete floor at Ace Infra’s NW Auctions Milnthorpe site on 25 April 2024. HSE found no edge protection, incomplete boarding over the stair void, no warning signage, no task-specific instructions and no site supervisor present at the time. Ace Infra Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and was fined £60,000 plus £4,799.44 costs and a £2,000 victim surcharge.

Kent County Council has let an £18.6M contract to build the Bean Road underpass, a short tunnel carrying Fastrack buses, pedestrians and cyclists beneath the B255 between the Whitecliffe development and Bluewater Shopping Centre. The grade-separated link will remove at-grade crossings on the B255, a busy distributor road serving Bluewater, and is intended to give Fastrack buses a segregated route. For designers and contractors, key issues will include maintaining B255 traffic during construction, groundwater control for the underpass box, and long-term drainage of the depressed alignment.

SSEN Transmission has awarded Hitachi Energy contracts to design and supply HVDC converter stations for two planned subsea cable links in the north of Scotland, forming key onshore nodes for long-distance offshore power transfer. The stations will convert AC from the Scottish grid to DC for export via subsea cables and back to AC at the receiving end, enabling lower-loss transmission over hundreds of kilometres. For civil and geotechnical teams, the projects imply substantial foundations, high-electromagnetic-field layouts, and interface works with existing 275 kV and 400 kV infrastructure.

Nottingham Forest Football Club has lodged a planning application for a £130M redevelopment of the City Ground that would lift capacity to more than 50,000 seats, nearly doubling the current figure. The scheme, funded by owner Evangelos Marinakis, centres on a major stand rebuild and wider stadium upgrade works. For designers and contractors, the project signals substantial structural, crowd-flow and transport interface works on a highly constrained riverside site.

Avoidable error in UK construction is again under scrutiny as members of the Institution of Civil Engineers’ best practice group revisit a 2015 initiative that first tried to quantify its impact on productivity and cost. The renewed push links error reduction to current digital workflows, including BIM-based design coordination and common data environments, arguing that misaligned models, late design changes and poor information management still drive rework. For civil and infrastructure projects, the message is that process control and data quality must advance as quickly as 3D modelling and offsite manufacture.