Construction and Infrastructure

Getting clean and safe water for those who desperately need it is just one of the areas of operation for infrastructure specialists Sukuma Consulting Engineers.

The Panama Canal will celebrate its centenary in 2014. The huge expansion program currently under way should see it through the next 100 years, as Jan Kop and Willmar Muller explain.

Build, own, operate, transfer (BOOT) is an attractive model for delivering infrastructure projects efficiently; and Ghana Water Company Limited is becoming wedded to the idea as it strives to expand its network.

The UK’s transport secretary is expected to unveil £9 billion of investment for UK railways later today.

The UK rail investment plan for 2014 to 2019, to be unveiled by transport secretary Justine Greening, includes a commitment to provide electric trains on the Midland Main Line from Bedford to Sheffield and Leicester; on local lines in the Welsh Valleys, and between Manchester and Leeds.

The World Bank has approved loans totalling $684 million for the Eastern Electricity Highway Project, which will connect Ethiopia’s electrical grid with Kenya’s.

The World Bank financing to both governments—US$243 million for Ethiopia and US$441 million for Kenya—will come from the International Development Association, the Bank’s fund for the world’s poorest countries.

As the first public-private partnership on the island, the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital Redevelopment Project has both challenged traditional concepts of how these schemes are undertaken and faced some unique challenges of its own.

Veolia Water has agreed to sell the UK regulated water activities of Veolia Environnement to Rift Acquisitions for a total of £1.2 billion.

Veolia Water is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paris-based Veolia Environnement, which is currently working to reduce its net debt.

In 2011, the French company announced plans to divest €5 billion of assets before the end of 2013. This divesture marks the first significant step in that programme, bringing the company’s net debt down by around £1.1 billion as a result of the sale.

Netherlands-based construction company Ballast Nedam has joined forces with Microbeton to form a new joint venture, Concrete Valley, it has been announced.

The new venture, which will focus on specialised solutions in the concrete industry, consists of two companies, Waco Lingen Beton (a Ballast Nedham company) and Microbeton, which develops and manufactures lightweight ferrocement products.

Saudi-owned Al-Muhaidib Contracting Company is focusing on its home market and the provision of large-scale projects to cater for its booming economy and population.

The so-called ‘developed world’ may be facing economic slowdowns and currency turmoil but activity in Saudi Arabia is sufficiently vigorous for Al-Muhaidib Contracting Company to refocus on its home country and reduce the distractions of international exposure.

Canada's building trade unions and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) today announced a joint agreement to advance the long-term competitiveness of the oil sands industry, with particular focus on developing a stronger skilled trades workforce.