Man-Made Reserve Wallasea Island Construction Has Begun

The construction of the Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project has finally commenced after much anticipation. Once complete, the Wallasea Island project will be the largest man-made nature reserve in Europe, and will exist as a fine example of the co operation between construction and nature conservation, which usually have conflicting interests. The Wallasea Island project, which is located at the River Thames estuary, will see 670 hectares of farmland being transformed into wetlands, which will hopefully attract an array of permanent and migratory birds as well as other wildlife.

The Wallasea Island project: A Construction and Conservation Effort

The Wallasea Island reserve is being constructed using 4.5 million tonnes of excavated earth from the Crossrail project, which saw east and west London being linked by 21km of underground tunnels. Of the six million tonnes of excavated earth, around three quarters will be repurposed and transported to the Wallasea Island site in Essex, giving conservationists and engineers much to celebrate on any party boat London has. The earth will be transported via ship and train, and a special jetty has been built outside of Southend to handle the traffic.

As The London Olympics Wrap Up, Focus Shifts To The Winter Olympics 2014 In Sochi

2014 Winter Olympics In Sochi

Just as the London Olympic Games wrap up, some attention is shifted in the direction of the small, Black Sea town of Sochi in Russia, as construction begins to prepare for the 2014 Winter Olympics. It was to many people’s surprise around the world that a particularly unheard of town won the bid to host the Winter Olympics 5 years ago in 2007. When Sochi won the bid, aided by President Vladimir Putin’s vigorous support, an extensive, construction transformation began and construction workers in high vis clothing scattered the town.

Thames Tideway Tunnel Plans Available for Public Consultancy

Thames Water has recently released its final proposal for the Thames Tideway Tunnel for public consideration. The Thames Tideway Tunnel plans will be on display for twelve weeks, almost double the time that is usually required for the project type, due to the disruptions that the Olympic Games may cause. Also dubbed the ‘supersewer’, the Thames Tideway Tunnel is a planned 15 mile tunnel that will wind its way 75 metres under the river bed through central London. The primary function of the Thames tunnel is to capture storm overflowing sewerage at particular points along the river, which boat builders UK state is important to industries situated alongside the Thames River.

Sand Shortage Hits Hyderabad

One thing for those of us looking from the outside in is that we assume construction agencies have enough of everything required to construct monolithic features, and sand does not even feature on the list of unavailable materials. However, this is not the case. A sand shortage in the Indian state of Hyderabad has left construction companies in a quandary.

It would appear that the recent lull in quarry activity has helped with the lack of sand and it has several developers and contractors extremely worried. Activity on many sites has had to stop because of the sand shortage. Production is at a low because the two week supply that most sites keep on hand, have all been depleted and those with emergency supplies have also run out. The sand shortage is now at a dire stage with several companies paying sand suppliers from other states as much as Rs 2,000 per tonne, which is nearly four times more expensive than the regular price of Rs 600. Even with the sky-high inflation many developers are paying the astronomical prices but they are still running low on sand. The shortage is moving farther out of the city and unless something drastic is done soon enough, many projects will look to suffer through the rest of the next four seasons without completion. Workers can be seen removing their hard hats and safety boots and leaving the sites due to work stoppage.

Olympic Construction Health and Safety Highly Successful: Loughborough

Consultants and researchers at Loughborough University have successfully charted the health and safety track record of the London 2012 Olympic construction and the results have been excellent. Considering the construction health and safety, time management and budget of the project, the construction of the Olympic Park, the facilities and the regeneration of the surrounding areas by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has been a tremendous achievement all round.

Cross Rail Project Awards 360 Million in Contracts

Commercial and infrastructure construction got a massive boost with the Cross Rail project awarding contracts of around 360 million Euros to various construction companies. The Cross Rail construction, which aims to link the 4 corners of Greater London for faster transportation services in the capital, is gaining momentum with grants for the station developments, which include ticketing, seating and even commercial shelving for station vendors. Balfour Beatty and partners have just been awarded the 110 million Euro contract for the new White Chapel Station, which is set to start immediately with the demolishing of the current station which does not meet the requirements.

London Bridge under Eco Construction

Network Rail is currently building a new rail link in London to ease congestion on the daily commute and along with it, a green bridge concept for the future. This amazing new eco construction project is taking place in East London to build the largest ever solar power bridge in the world. With the potential to produce enough to cover 50% of the stations required power, from the led lights through to the booms and communications systems, the eco construction project aims to use materials of 4000 photovoltaic panels along the roof of the bridge which will span the River Thames.