Geomechanics.io

The Australian Flexible Pavement Association has released a white paper warning that Australia’s sealed road network is deteriorating faster than it is being maintained because funding has not kept pace with known pavement management solutions. The paper calls for a defined benchmark – a seven per cent annual resurfacing and rehabilitation rate – to stabilise network condition, compared with current renewal rates that sit well below this level across many jurisdictions. For asset managers and pavement designers, the benchmark provides a quantitative target to justify lifecycle-based budgets and prioritise resurfacing over reactive heavy rehabilitation.

Arafura Rare Earths’ long-serving chief financial officer Peter Sherrington will step down on 31 August after nearly 18 years, remaining until 31 October to manage a structured handover as the company moves towards construction of its Nolans rare earths project in the Northern Territory. Former BHP Nickel West president Angela Bigg will join as CFO on 13 July, bringing large-scale project and operational finance experience. The timing signals Arafura is locking in funding and cost-control leadership ahead of major EPC and procurement commitments at Nolans.

Donnelly Blasting Services is expanding its Queensland quarry and construction work with four Sandvik drill rigs, including the Leopard DI650i and Pantera DP1100i, to deliver contract drill-and-blast across multiple greenfield and brownfield sites. The Jimboomba-based family business, led by Jason, Jake and Dan Donnelly, is standardising on Sandvik’s i-series rigs to gain common parts, remote diagnostics and consistent drilling parameters across different benches and rock types. For mine and quarry owners, the model shifts capital and maintenance risk to a specialist contractor while tightening control over fragmentation, vibration and compliance.

OTR Tyres is expanding on-site tyre management across Australian surface mines, using dedicated service crews, mobile fitting units and scheduled inspections to cut unplanned downtime on haul trucks, loaders and graders. By monitoring tyre condition, pressure and temperature in-pit and at workshops, the company aims to detect damage before catastrophic failures, reduce change-out times and extend tyre life on ultra-class fleets. For mine operators, the approach targets higher truck availability, more predictable maintenance windows and improved safety around high-pressure tyre handling.

Corazon Mining has completed a $25.7 million acquisition of the Chalice gold project from Westgold Resources in Western Australia, securing 100 per cent ownership of the mining licence, existing contracts and all technical data. The deal structure includes $8 million in upfront cash and $6.7 million in Corazon shares, with the balance in deferred and contingent payments tied to project milestones. Control of the mining lease and datasets positions Corazon to advance from early-stage explorer to gold project developer, with permitting and mine design work now fully under its control.

Pelican Australia is cutting equipment damage and unplanned downtime at remote mine sites by supplying engineered Pelican-Trimcast protective cases and rugged lighting systems designed for red dust, high humidity, vibration, and temperature extremes. Custom foam inserts, IP-rated polymer shells, and pressure equalisation valves are being used to protect high-value assets such as survey instruments, communications gear, and control electronics during fly-in fly-out logistics and in-vehicle transport. For reliability engineers, the approach targets reduced mean time between failures and fewer site visits for repairs in hard-to-access pits and processing plants.

Window and door supplier CR Smith is expanding into Scotland’s social housing market, creating 150 new roles to support large-scale replacement window programmes for Fife, Edinburgh, East Lothian, West Lothian and Dundee councils plus more than a dozen housing associations. The firm is emphasising advanced window design, precision manufacturing and tightly managed on-site installation to meet stricter expectations on thermal performance, durability and workmanship. Recent sponsorship of the CIH Scotland Housing Festival signals a push to become a long-term delivery partner in social housing retrofit and modernisation.

Oakleaf Contracts has opened a modular manufacturing facility in Lancaster to produce fully fitted bathroom pods, expanding beyond its established dry wall and ceilings operations. The pods leave the factory with all fixtures, finishes, plumbing and electrical components installed, targeting residential, student, hotel and healthcare schemes across the British Isles. The new division has already secured a multi-million-pound order for 3,300 bathroom pods for a large student accommodation project at a leading English university, signalling strong demand for offsite volumetric bathroom units.

Hill Group and L&Q have completed Kew Bridge Rise in Brentford, a Hawkins Brown-designed brownfield regeneration delivering 441 homes, with 50% designated as affordable units. The scheme replaces previously underused land near Kew Bridge with higher-density residential blocks, improving land-use efficiency and urban infrastructure connections. For civil and structural teams, the project signals continued demand for complex brownfield remediation, foundation design in constrained urban footprints, and integration of mixed-tenure housing into existing utility and transport networks.

United Utilities has appointed Barhale to build a 1,000m³ detention shaft tank at Bramhall Precinct car park in Stockport, diverting an 825mm diameter sewer at 4m depth into a 12.5m diameter segmented caisson sunk to 13.3m invert to cut storm overflow discharges to Micker Brook. The high water table demands careful temporary works and groundwater control, with Barhale also delivering full MEICA fit-out, dual rising mains and new telemetry and power supplies. The scheme, due to complete in summer 2027, supports United Utilities’ AMP8 goal of a 60% reduction in storm overflow spills by 2030.

GMI Construction Group and Alumno have topped out the £29m Canvas Building PBSA on Moss Lane East, combining a new nine-storey block with the refurbishment of an adjacent listed Georgian villa near the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University. The Stallan Brand designed scheme uses brick and metal cladding to tie into the local streetscape and is scheduled for final completion for the 2027 academic year. A proportion of the student rooms will be let at affordable rents, responding to Manchester’s constrained student housing supply.

GRS Contractors has secured the full groundworks, roads and sewers package for Rowland Homes’ 149-plot residential scheme in Chadderton, Oldham. The infrastructure scope includes surface water drainage with pipe diameters up to 1,800 mm, a dedicated surface water pumping station, foul water drainage up to 150 mm, and an attenuation tank forming the primary storage and flow-control system. For geotechnical and civils teams, early coordination around deep trench stability, large-diameter pipe installation and pump station foundations will be critical to maintaining Rowland’s programme.

GF Tomlinson has completed a steel-frame Hybrid Propulsion Systems Building at the University of Nottingham’s Jubilee Campus, delivering cryogenic-capable laboratories and environmental chambers for altitude and high-power testing of gaseous hybrid, ammonia and other green-fuel propulsion systems. The facility links directly to the adjacent megawatt-class Power Electronics and Machines Centre (PEMC), uses high-performance acoustic doors, integrated PV panels and achieved a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating. Construction generated 50 apprentice weeks, diverted 100% of site waste from landfill, and placed 97% of project spend within 40 miles, with 99% SME engagement.

Oisin Capital, the O’Rourke family office, has taken an equity stake in Italian tower crane manufacturer Moritsch Cranes, founded by Mariano Moritsch near the Terex Comedil plant at Fontanafredda. The partners plan joint R&D to extend the Moritsch range towards larger tower and luffing jib units, building on models such as the RTL 195 to service high-rise and constrained urban sites. Oisin frames the deal as supporting a “new delivery paradigm” for UK and Australian projects, where demand for increasingly large luffers is growing.

MGF has entered a distribution partnership with Terra Infrastructure, owner of E+S and AGD, to supply its engineered shoring equipment across Germany, with coverage extending into Poland and the Czech Republic. The first project under the deal used an octagonal excavation pit supported by MGF’s bespoke 305UC Tank Brace and 400 Series Struts, supplied in Terra’s initial order. The collaboration gives continental contractors access to modular shoring systems suited to irregular geometries and complex temporary works design.

CITB is using its Industry Impact Fund to back employer-led net zero training, including Balfour Beatty’s accredited Low Carbon Passport Programme, which is free to enrol and runs UK-wide until November 2026 to address shortages in low‑carbon construction skills. Berkeley Group’s two-year Future Workforce project with the Supply Chain Sustainability School is producing free, bite-sized digital resources for at least three years to help colleges and SMEs deliver and access net zero skills. Donaldson Timber Systems’ Timber in Construction 101 will offer over 15 fully funded modules from introductory to advanced technical timber construction training.

Hitachi has introduced the ZX95US-7 SLF, a 9.5‑tonne super long front excavator with a 10m reach, longer boom and arm than the standard ZX95US-7, aimed at sewer installation, drainage and urban utility works. The compact upper structure and short turning radius allow operation in restricted sites and on bridges or canal banks, with low ground pressure improving stability on soft or sensitive ground. A Stage V engine without SCR cuts maintenance demands, while an ECO gauge and optional floating blade support fuel‑efficient grading, levelling and slope finishing.

HS2 has completed its first ‘green’ tunnel, an 880m cut-and-cover structure at Copthall constructed by the SCS joint venture of Skanska, Costain and Strabag. The tunnel was built using 1.2m cubic metres of material excavated from the nearby Northolt tunnel, reducing imported fill and heavy lorry movements. For designers and contractors, the scheme illustrates large-scale reuse of tunnel spoil for structural backfill and landscape integration on a major high-speed rail corridor.

Close Brothers Property Finance has funded the fourth and final phase of Mulberry Homes’ Kingsbury Park scheme in Leicestershire, taking the development’s gross value to £120m and total output on the site to 288 homes delivered between 2018 and 2026. The deal means Close Brothers has now financed more than 1,000 homes for Mulberry across 23 schemes, from a 22‑unit site at Great Easton to multi‑phase estates of Kingsbury Park’s scale and complexity. Phased delivery has allowed housing, local infrastructure and open space to be built in step, supporting steady demand through volatile market conditions.

Sheffield Forgemasters and contractor McLaughlin & Harvey have topped out a 30,000 m² machine shop being constructed alongside a new 13,000-tonne forging line as part of a £1.3 billion MOD-backed recapitalisation. The structural steelwork completion marks the main envelope in place for a high-accuracy machining facility intended to consolidate heavy engineering operations on the Sheffield site. Arup (ecology and transport), Bond Bryan Architects, JLL (site acquisition and planning) and Turner & Townsend (delivery support) form the core project team.

Willohaus, a 100-unit Passivhaus-certified apartment development in Salford designed by Buttress Architects and built by Eric Wright Construction, has now welcomed residents as the first completed phase of the £2.5bn, 240-acre Crescent Salford masterplan. The one- and two-bedroom homes, owned and managed by Salix Homes, are designed to Passivhaus standards to deliver substantially lower space-heating demand and reduced energy bills compared with typical UK housing stock. Construction has already started on a further 42 townhouses and 185 apartments at Farmer Norton, with consent granted for another 263 homes in Adelphi Village.

Vistry expects a pre-tax loss of about £30m for the first half of 2026 after cash generation measures, despite completing 6,100 homes versus 6,889 a year earlier, with over half delivered as affordable housing. Average private-sale discounts reached 7.1% off book price and the sales rate held at 1.03, but lower volumes of partner deals, delayed land sales and higher finance costs cut underlying profitability. Around £50m of negative impact stems from enhanced discounting, accelerated asset disposals, site-mix and build-rate changes, plus impairments on low or nil margin sites, with further one-off effects expected from an ongoing CEO Review.

Takeuchi has introduced two 15‑tonne 3‑Series excavators, the offset boom TB3150 and reduced tail swing TB3150R, both powered by an 85kW (114hp) Yanmar engine and upgraded hydraulic horsepower for multi‑function operation. The TB3150’s boom swing system enables offset digging without repositioning the tracks, while the TB3150R’s reinforced fixed boom, minimal rear overhang and optional two‑piece boom target confined or structure‑adjacent work. A redesigned cab adds an 8in touch screen, 270° camera coverage, pilot joysticks, electro‑hydraulic travel and blade controls, and keyless RFID/pin security.

NVRO Metals has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Hecla Greens Creek Mining Company to define the technical and commercial framework for an industrial-scale hydrometallurgical processing campaign. The plan covers approximately 35,000 t of tailings from Hecla’s Greens Creek operation, to be treated as feedstock at NVRO Metals’ facility as a large-scale demonstration of its hydromet technology. For mine operators, the trial will give real-world data on metal recovery from legacy tailings and potential pathways for commercial deployment.