Construction and Infrastructure

Westinghouse Electric Company today announced the signing of an exclusive memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Czech construction company Metrostav, in preparation for the potential construction of nuclear power plants in the Czech Republic.

Western Australia’s Water Corporation has commenced the expansion of its second major water desalination plant to end dependency on climate sensitive rainfall. Project director Nick Churchill updates Gay Sutton about project managing for a speedy and cost-effective outcome.

Twenty years of continuous expansion have resulted in the launch of Qatar Technical. Deputy managing director Michel Mitri talks to Gay Sutton about the transformation from an industrial refrigeration company to a knowledge-based engineering and manufacturing institution.

Qatar Concrete Company is pioneering a new concrete mixing technology that may well revolutionise the production of this essential construction material in hot countries. Executive directorAntoine Abboud talks to Gay Sutton about the challenges and solutions.

Alan Swaby looks at one of the largest crane manufacturers in the world—which ironically comes from one of the smallest countries in the world.

Watch any strong man competition and the odds are there will be a Finn in the final. For a country with a population of far less than Greater London, Finland manages to create some of the biggest and strongest specimens in the world.

China Investment Corporation (CIC) has acquired an 8.68 per cent stake in Thames Water, the UK water and sewerage company.

The purchase is the Chinese sovereign wealth fund’s first in the UK, and comes after George Osborne's visit to China this week, where he urged China to invest in UK infrastructure projects.

The price CIC paid for the stake has not been disclosed.

CIC was set up in 2007 to make strategic investments using China’s £2 trillion of foreign exchange reserves.

Netherlands-based construction and infrastructure specialist Ballast Nedam has won a €25 million contract for expansion works at a refinery in Suriname.

Expansion works to double the processing capacity at Tout Lui Faut Refinery to 15,000 barrels a day are due to commence in April. Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname, the state oil company of Suriname, has awarded Ballast Nedam the general civil and steel piling works contract for the project.

Ensor Holdings has announced its acquisition of Technocover, the Wales-based manufacturer, supplier and installer of security products.

Technocover's products are used for the protection of critical national infrastructure assets operated by UK and European utility companies within the water, energy, communication and transportation sectors.

Ensor said it believes Technocover’s services to government-driven national security initiatives demonstrate resistance to recessionary pressures.

Winning the bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup has generated a construction boom in Qatar that is attracting interest from all over the world. One company that will be helping to ensure that demand for construction materials is met is Qatar National Cement Company.

Since its inauguration in 2008, investment holding company Foulath has established its position as one of the most comprehensive steel producers in the Middle East, and has developed a unique business model that it is now transferring to Egypt and Oman. Ben Sansom reports.