Geomechanics.io

Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel has opened twin 9km rail tunnels with five new underground stations, doubling the city’s underground network and cutting cross-city journeys from Arden to Anzac to 12 minutes. Built by the Cross Yarra Partnership (Capella Capital, Lendlease, John Holland, Bouygues and John Laing) after its 2015 announcement, construction required excavation of 1.8 million m³ of rock and soil, 754,000m³ of concrete, 157,000 tonnes of steel and 140km of track. Travel is free on the network at weekends during December and January, with the West Gate road tunnel targeted to open by year-end.

Scottish Water has completed tunnelling works on a £13m scheme in Stirlingshire, installing twin 0.5m-diameter pressurised wastewater pipes over a 4km route between Plean and Cowie to support new housing. A 56m section at 4m depth beneath the M9 motorway was installed by pipe ramming, while an 8m-deep, 46m crossing under the main Glasgow–Stirling railway used rock auger drilling in harder ground. Continuous 24/7 working and a co-ordinated multi-agency approach limited disruption to both the motorway and live railway.

TBM Than Toc (Speedy God), a 6.6m-diameter, 100m-long, 850t Herrenknecht machine operated by Ghella, has broken through at Station S12 (Hanoi Station) after a 4km drive installing 1,720 precast segments on Hanoi Metro Line 3. The 12.5km Pilot Light Line 3, Hanoi’s first underground metro, comprises 8.5km of elevated track, 4km of twin-bore tunnels and four underground stations between Nhon and Hanoi Station, and is now over 72% complete. A second TBM, Tao Bao, is currently advancing towards Station S11, maintaining underground excavation momentum.

The Centenary Motorway crossing of the Brisbane River at Jindalee has been expanded from four to six lanes, with a new three‑lane northbound bridge now open and the existing structures rehabilitated to carry three southbound lanes. The upgrade removes a key bottleneck on this major radial route into Brisbane, materially changing traffic loading patterns and redundancy across the twin structures. For designers and asset managers, the project signals a shift from single to duplicated river crossings, with implications for inspection regimes, maintenance access and future flood resilience strategies.

Former Barratt Developments regional managing director Gary Ennis has been appointed chief executive of Untypical, the new brand combining Hopkins Homes and Tilia Homes owned by Guy Hands’ Terra Firma Capital Partners. Ennis, who ran Barratt’s London and southeast division until September 2024, will be based in Solihull from 8 December, despite no Untypical corporate entity yet being registered at Companies House. The delayed merger of Hopkins and Tilia, first announced in October 2024, remains incomplete, leaving governance and integration timelines unclear for supply chains and project partners.

Gary Bushnell has been appointed managing director of Robertson Capital Projects (RCP) after 10 years as chief executive of Hub East Central Scotland, with Robertson’s pre-construction director Brian Craig moving to replace him at Hub. RCP, based in Stirling alongside Hub East Central Scotland, will use design–build–fund–maintain models and private finance structures to progress social and community infrastructure, regeneration schemes and housing. Bushnell’s remit centres on upgrading public sector estates to meet net zero requirements while enabling projects constrained by tight public budgets to proceed.

A builder who stole nearly £85,000 of construction machinery and used company funds to buy a high‑performance car has been ordered to repay over £190,000 within three months or face jail. The confiscation order, made under proceeds of crime legislation, more than doubles the value of the original thefts to capture wider unlawful gains. Contractors and plant hirers are likely to note the court’s willingness to treat misused company accounts and stolen site equipment as recoverable criminal assets on this scale.

Balfour Beatty is projecting a 20% order book increase to about £22bn for 2025, driven by £3bn of work on the Sizewell C nuclear power station within the main contracting team alongside the Bylor JV of Bouygues and Laing O’Rourke. Power generation orders total £3.5bn this year, while other wins include Rolls-Royce’s sole-contractor fissile construction framework and a £162m contract for the Dunard Centre concert hall in Edinburgh. Revenue is expected to rise only around 5% from £10.0bn, but underlying PFO should exceed 2024’s £252m.

Energy network companies have been cleared by Ofgem to invest £28bn between April 2026 and March 2031 under the RIIO-3 price control, with £17.8bn for maintaining Britain’s gas networks and £10.3bn for strengthening the electricity transmission system across 80 projects. The package includes staged release of funds and clawback mechanisms, with Ofgem imposing an explicit “efficiency challenge” and on-time, on-budget delivery requirements on monopoly operators. Ofgem estimates the net impact on consumer bills at about £30 a year by 2031, framing this as the cost of grid resilience and capacity for new industrial loads.

Funding approval for a £140m upgrade of Cardiff Central railway station will allow Bam Nuttall, as design-and-build contractor, to start construction in 2025 on a significantly enlarged north concourse to increase passenger capacity and improve flow. The scheme is led by Transport for Wales, with capital from the Department for Transport, Cardiff Capital Region and the Welsh government, following sign-off of the full business case by all parties. For civil and rail engineers, the project signals forthcoming packages in station structural works, passenger circulation design and associated M&E integration.

UK construction output fell sharply in November as the S&P Global UK Construction PMI dropped to 39.4 from 44.1 in October, its lowest level since May 2020, with new orders contracting at a rate last seen in early 2009 outside the pandemic. Housing (index 35.4), commercial (43.8) and civil engineering (30.0) all recorded their steepest downturns in five-and-a-half years, while employment declined for an 11th consecutive month and subcontractor usage and buying activity both fell markedly. Softer demand improved supplier performance but input costs for electrical components, copper products and insulation continued to rise, keeping margin pressure high despite more manageable inflation.

Bouygues Travaux Publics Murphy Joint Venture has started tendering for a 16.4 m diameter tunnel boring machine to drive the 4 km twin-bore road tunnel at the centre of the Lower Thames Crossing, set to carry three lanes of traffic in each direction and become the UK’s longest road tunnel. The move comes as project costs have risen from £9bn to £11bn, with £3bn expected from the public purse and the remainder likely under a regulated asset base model still subject to market engagement. TBM procurement is targeted for 2025, with tunnelling to start in 2028 from the northern portal and opening aimed for the early 2030s.

Norwegian contractor LNS and Austrian firms BeMo and Strabag have been appointed to review and evaluate a reference design for a subsea fixed link in Shetland, using the Yell Sound crossing as the initial test case within a new Fixed Link Model. Consulting engineers Cowi and Stantec will use the contractors’ site visits and constructability input to refine cost, programme and construction risk data for a single tunnel taken to scheme design level. Findings will feed into the Inter-island Transport Connectivity Outline Business Case in summer 2026, covering eight island routes and potential funding structures.

Alcoa Australia sent 40 employees to volunteer with the St Vincent de Paul Society in Mandurah and Bunbury, handling donation intake, sorting and merchandising at Vinnies op shops that fund emergency relief, accommodation and support programmes. Through the Alcoa Foundation Community Impact Campaign, the company has committed nearly $130,000 to the Vinnies Passages Youth Engagement Hub in Peel, which supported 718 young people across more than 7,600 sessions last year. The 2024 campaign has allocated over $400,000 to charitable initiatives across 27 global locations.

South32 has completed the sale of its Cerro Matoso open-cut ferronickel mine and smelter in Córdoba, Colombia, to CoreX Holding following a strategic review triggered by structural changes in the nickel market. The divestment shifts South32’s portfolio further towards higher-margin copper and zinc assets linked to energy-transition demand and is intended to increase balance sheet flexibility for growth projects in those commodities. CoreX assumes full economic and operating control of Cerro Matoso, including all current and future environmental, social and closure liabilities.

Cardiff Central station’s £140M overhaul will proceed after ministers approved the final business case and funding, unlocking a major upgrade to Wales’s busiest rail hub. The scheme is expected to modernise platforms and concourse layouts, increase passenger handling capacity, and improve interchange with local and regional services. For civil and rail engineers, the decision confirms a significant pipeline project involving complex works in a constrained live-station environment in central Cardiff.

Ofgem has confirmed final determinations for the RIIO-3 price control, enabling up to £90bn of regulated investment in Britain’s gas and electricity transmission and distribution networks between April 2026 and March 2031. The framework sets allowed revenues and performance incentives for National Grid Electricity Transmission, gas transmission operators and the regional distribution network operators, targeting large-scale grid reinforcement, new 400kV and 275kV capacity, and resilience upgrades. Civil and geotechnical works will centre on substation expansions, cable route corridors and asset hardening to accommodate rapid electrification and higher renewable penetration.

New Murchison Gold’s Crown Prince gold mine has recorded a strong start, with initial production performing above feasibility study forecasts at the historic Murchison operation in Western Australia. The project, centred on the Crown Prince deposit near Cue, is ramping up conventional open-pit mining and CIL processing of near-surface ore, with early mill throughput and head grades exceeding modelled assumptions. For mine planners and geotechs, the outperformance suggests more favourable orebody continuity and grade distribution than block models predicted, potentially supporting revised pit designs and mine schedules.

Polymetals Resources has raised $34.4 million via a fully underwritten institutional placement and accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer to fund restart works at the Endeavor silver–lead–zinc mine near Cobar, New South Wales. Proceeds will support dewatering, underground rehabilitation and refurbishment of the 1.2Mtpa processing plant, including recommissioning of crushing, grinding and flotation circuits. The funding move signals momentum towards bringing the long‑life underground operation back into production, with scope to leverage existing shafts, decline access and tailings storage infrastructure.

The Australian Mining and Automotive Skills Alliance (AUSMASA) has appointed 16 training and mining subject matter experts to a new strategic panel to steer national qualifications and competency standards. The group will advise on technical content for trades such as mobile plant mechanics, drill and blast operators and underground production roles, directly influencing units of competency and assessment requirements. For mine operators and contractors, the panel’s work will shape future training packages, apprenticeship structures and skills recognition across both surface and underground operations.

Regal Rexnord is showcasing an end‑to‑end conveyor drive manufacturing process, walking through complete drive assemblies from heavy‑duty gearboxes to integrated backstops and couplings. The video focuses on how matched components within a single drive package are specified and assembled for mining conveyors, aiming to reduce misalignment, premature gearbox wear and backstop failures common in multi‑vendor systems. For plant and maintenance engineers, the approach signals tighter control over torque ratings, service factors and spares standardisation across critical conveyor lines.

Herrenknecht’s “Verena” Vertical Shaft Sinking Machine has begun sinking a 15m internal diameter, >48m deep shaft at National Grid’s Tilbury site for the 2.2km, 400kV Grain–Tilbury cable tunnel under the Thames, replacing the ageing 1960s Thames Cable Tunnel. The remotely operated VSM works in a water-filled shaft, avoiding groundwater lowering and keeping operatives out of the excavation, which is critical for safety in challenging geology. A second shaft at Gravesend and a Mixshield TBM for the tunnel will follow, delivered by Ferrovial BEMO JV.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland has launched tendering for a Programme Delivery Partner (PDP) Support Services Contract on the MetroLink scheme, moving the 18.8km, fully segregated, mostly underground metro towards delivery. The PDP will support detailed design, procurement and construction management for twin-bore tunnels, underground stations and associated systems between Swords and Charlemont in Dublin. The contract is expected to structure risk, interfaces and schedule across multiple civil, systems and rolling stock packages on what is billed as Ireland’s largest ever public transport project.

Delivery of the first Herrenknecht TBM for the Grand Paris Express Line 15 East marks the start of excavation preparations for the 5km Bobigny–Marcel Dassault drive on the Bobigny–Champigny Centre section. The machine will be shipped to the Normandie Niémen shaft in Bobigny in early 2026 for progressive assembly, ahead of a southward launch in spring towards the Rosny Bois-Perrier area. Eiffage plans to use a total of four TBMs on this contract, signalling a multi-face mechanised advance strategy for the section.