Geomechanics.io

MyEasyAction will use QME 2026 to demonstrate a real-time asset tracking and enterprise architecture platform aimed at tightening operational control and accountability on mining sites. The system links field assets and workflows into a single digital environment to improve “digital discipline”, with live status visibility intended to reduce unplanned downtime and coordination gaps between mobile plant, fixed infrastructure and maintenance teams. For geotechnical and processing operations, the approach targets more reliable data capture across dispersed equipment, supporting traceable decisions on asset condition and utilisation.

Fenix Resources shipped a record 4.4Mt of iron ore in FY26 and has set FY27 production guidance at 4.7–5.3Mt as it ramps up operations at its Western Australian projects. The June quarter delivered record mining, haulage and shipping performance, including 1.299 million wet metric tonnes shipped, signalling sustained logistics capacity across pit, road and port. For mine planners and contractors, the higher guidance points to continued high utilisation of haulage fleets and port stockyard infrastructure, with potential pressure on regional road and export corridors.

Heavy Diesel Group will use QME 2026 in Mackay to showcase its integrated mechanical, hydraulic, parts and heavy truck support model aimed at maximising uptime for Queensland mine fleets. The company combines field service for large mobile plant, on-site hydraulic cylinder and hose repair, and rapid parts supply through a single coordination point to cut response times when excavators, haul trucks or ancillary gear fail. For operators, the pitch is fewer hand-offs between contractors, clearer accountability, and faster recovery from unplanned stoppages that can cascade across load–haul–crusher circuits.

A new strategic partnership between the Resources Centre of Excellence (RCOE), The University of Queensland and Mining3, launched at the Queensland Mining & Engineering Exhibition in Mackay, will focus on accelerating commercialisation of critical minerals technologies. The collaboration is designed to link laboratory-scale research with field deployment, using RCOE’s Mackay facilities as a testbed for mining equipment, processing flowsheets and digital tools. For engineers, this signals more opportunities to trial critical-mineral extraction and processing innovations in operating Queensland coal and metalliferous mines.

Queensland Mining & Engineering Exhibition 2026 has opened in Mackay, returning to the Mackay Showgrounds with its largest footprint yet, including an expanded 9000m² exhibition area. The three-day event brings together Queensland and national miners, OEMs and service providers to showcase new technology, with a strong focus on equipment, automation and decarbonisation solutions for coal and metalliferous operations. For engineers, QME offers direct access to suppliers, live demonstrations and technical discussions concentrated in a single regional hub.

Places for London, Heathrow, Lower Thames Crossing and Gallagher Group have partnered with Fatima Whitbread’s charity to create a route for care leavers into construction, using employer-backed training and site placements. The initiative is linked to The Skills Centre, whose courses have already led two care-experienced young people into apprenticeships with Marlborough Highways. For contractors and infrastructure clients, this signals a growing pipeline of entry-level labour tied directly to major projects, with structured support for candidates who typically face higher barriers to CSCS accreditation and site readiness.

Thames Water is tendering a £227m framework for sewer rehabilitation, CCTV surveys and cleaning across its entire region, covering both gravity and rising mains with methods including structural lining, pipe replacement, patch repairs, leak-tight lining, pipe bursting and associated manhole sealing. The scope also includes minor civils, inspection reporting, waste disposal and street works, with some packages requiring work adjacent to railway infrastructure. The framework is split into two lots above and below £3m, with up to six suppliers per lot from April 2027–2030 and potential extension to 2035.

Heidelberg Materials UK has secured planning conditions from Somerset Council to reopen the 160m‑tonne Westdown limestone quarry near Frome, with site preparations starting autumn 2026 and production targeted for the second half of 2027. Operations will be confined to the former quarry boundary, with hedgerows and edge woodland retained, plus 44 acres of new habitat and native broadleaved planting on screening bunds to create species‑rich connected woodland and grassland. Combined aggregate output from Westdown and the nearby rail‑connected Whatley quarry will not exceed Whatley’s current permitted tonnage, with Whatley focusing on national rail markets to reduce HGV traffic through local villages.

Premier Forest Products is restarting operations at its leased Croespenmaen site in south Wales, converting the former SDL Sawmills facility into a centre of excellence for fencing and landscaping timber with an on-site timber treatment plant. Several former SDL employees will transfer, with long-serving staff Deborah Llewellyn appointed operations manager and Rhys Watkins sales manager to retain local process knowledge and customer links. The site is intended as a key hub in Premier’s UK-wide manufacturing and distribution network, improving national coverage for treated timber products.

Arada has unveiled a £2.5bn plan for the 47‑acre Thameside West site in London’s Royal Docks, targeting at least 5,000 homes with 35% affordable, green space over roughly half the site and a 1km active waterfront. The first phase will deliver 1,500 homes in six buildings plus a major public park, with Arup, Gensler and landscape architect Planit appointed to lead design updates to current building safety and regulatory standards. Arada aims to submit the first-stage planning application this summer, start on site by early 2028, and open a new DLR station with TfL in time for initial occupation.

Balfour Beatty has secured a seven‑year, up to £120m contract from Leeds City Council to maintain and upgrade the 2.5‑mile inner ring road, which carries more than 83,000 vehicles per day and includes over 135 structures such as bridges, tunnels and major retaining walls. Works under the Leeds Contractors Major Works Framework will combine annual planned maintenance with design-and-build strengthening and refurbishment of four bridges and viaducts, three tunnels and one footbridge. Routine maintenance starts immediately, with major structural interventions from 2027 and overall completion targeted for 2032.

Allison Homes has appointed Andrew Sparrow as head of enterprise architecture to align its technology stack with the full housebuilding lifecycle, from land and planning through build, sales and aftercare. With 25 years’ sector experience, including starting as a trainee programmer at David Wilson Homes, Sparrow will focus on integrating systems and data so all departments work from a single information source. The move signals a push to cut IT complexity and cost, reduce operational risk as the business scales, and standardise digital tools across project teams.

Railpen has secured planning consent for 12 Smithfield, a repurposed office scheme delivering 122,000 sq ft of space with floorplates up to 20,000 sq ft across five levels, plus 9,400 sq ft of private terraces, a rooftop garden and 11,400 sq ft of retail, café and amenity space. Designed by Henley Halebrown, the project retains and upgrades the existing structure with a new façade and expanded public realm, targeting BREEAM Outstanding, EPC A, WELL Core Platinum, NABERS UK 5* and net zero carbon in operation. Completion is targeted for Q4 2028, coinciding with the new London Museum opening within the £400m Smithfield regeneration, less than five minutes from Farringdon and the Elizabeth Line.

Laing O’Rourke has appointed Clare Rodgers as head of Expanded Geotechnical, making her the first female business unit leader across any of the contractor’s specialist trading businesses. Rodgers moves from Select, where she was lifting solutions leader responsible for complex crane and heavy lifting strategies, bringing temporary works and lifting logistics expertise directly into the ground engineering unit. She succeeds Ronan O’Rourke, who becomes director of clients and markets for Laing O’Rourke’s Europe Hub, signalling closer alignment between geotechnical delivery and major project clients.

Evans Randall Investors has secured full planning and related consents for the £200m WilkinsonEyre-designed redevelopment of Thavies Inn House at Holborn Circus, London, clearing the way for demolition contractor Erith and main contractor McLaughlin & Harvey to mobilise on site. The scheme replaces the existing office block with a new Grade A commercial building in a prime City fringe location, signalling imminent demand for complex demolition, deep temporary works and constrained urban logistics.

Red South West, part of Red Group, has secured delivery of the £34m Portwall Place office scheme in Bristol, designed by Buckley Gray Yeoman for BlackRock and LS Estates, signalling a major commercial build in the city’s central business district. The contractor will also construct Buro Happold’s new £8m headquarters at Pinesgate West in Bath, designed by AWW Architects for WPV Developments, consolidating the engineering consultancy’s operations into a purpose-built facility.

Tilbury Douglas has topped out Dorset County Hospital’s £100m New Hospital Programme-funded emergency department and critical care building with installation of a £2m aluminium rooftop helipad by Bayards, the county’s only hospital rooftop landing facility. The prefabricated helideck, imported from the Netherlands, has an area of about 284 sq ft and a load capacity of 8,600kg, enabling direct air ambulance access to the new two-storey clinical block. The scheme expands critical care from 11 to 16 beds, adds paediatric and mental health-specific spaces, and links to the main hospital via a new corridor.

Severn Trent Water is preparing early supply-chain engagement for a new capital delivery framework programme worth up to £25bn over the next 8–15 years across the Midlands. The frameworks will cover long-term water and wastewater infrastructure upgrades, signalling sustained demand for civil works, pipelines, treatment assets and associated geotechnical investigations. Contractors, designers and materials suppliers will need to position for multi-AMP procurement, likely involving alliancing models and capacity to deliver large, phased programmes rather than one-off schemes.

Balfour Beatty Ground Engineering, VSL Systems (UK) and Bachy Soletanche will jointly deliver major geotechnical works for the Sizewell C nuclear project, covering piling, soil mixing, diaphragm walls and plastic cut-off walls. The package will form key below-ground containment and support structures for the twin EPR units, where groundwater control and long-term settlement performance are critical on the Suffolk coast. The collaboration signals early locking-in of specialist contractors for complex deep-foundation and seepage-control systems on one of the UK’s largest current infrastructure schemes.

Andy Burnham’s swearing-in as prime minister on 20 July signals potential shifts for UK infrastructure, particularly around rail investment, regional devolution and funding models for major projects. Engineers will be watching for decisions on schemes such as Northern Powerhouse Rail, HS2 residual works and city-region mass transit, as well as any changes to the National Infrastructure Commission’s remit. Any move towards greater fiscal powers for combined authorities could alter how £bn-scale transport, flood defence and housing-enabling schemes are prioritised and procured.

Construction has started on the £1bn Golden Valley cyber and technology campus in Cheltenham, a major expansion adjacent to GCHQ intended to cluster national security and defence-sector organisations. The first phase will deliver core infrastructure and initial office and lab space to anchor a wider mixed-use development, with subsequent phases expected to add high-spec commercial floorspace, residential units and supporting transport links. For civil and geotechnical teams, early works will focus on site servicing, ground engineering and phased utilities to support secure, resilient data and research facilities.

Greenpeace analysis of England and Wales utility data finds that daily distribution losses from ageing mains and service pipes exceed the volumes saved by temporary hosepipe bans during drought restrictions. The campaign group argues that leakage, often above 20% of put‑in‑system water in some regions, should be tackled through accelerated mains replacement, active pressure management and improved leak detection rather than relying primarily on domestic outdoor-use bans. For civil and water engineers, the figures strengthen the case for prioritising network renewal, smart metering and district metered areas in drought resilience planning.

Major upgrade works at Junction 9 of the M3 at Winchester are progressing, with National Highways advancing construction of a new bridge and the A34 northbound link to separate strategic and local traffic. The scheme involves reconfiguring the M3/A34 interchange geometry and building additional link capacity to reduce weaving movements between the southbound M3 and northbound A34. Contractors will need to manage complex staging under live motorway conditions, with significant temporary traffic management and phasing around the new bridge installation.

Plans have been lodged for a six‑turbine onshore wind farm extension in the East Riding of Yorkshire, making it one of the first new English onshore schemes to come forward since the government relaxed planning rules. The project would expand an existing renewable energy park, allowing connection to established grid and access infrastructure rather than building a standalone site. For civil and geotechnical teams, the brownfield-style extension suggests focused work on turbine foundations, access upgrades and grid reinforcement rather than full greenfield enabling works.