Civils

The UK’s public roads and railways market is stuck in a “negative cycle” of short-termism, risk-aversion and delivery failure that is undermining economic growth, according to an interim report from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Published on Wednesday (17 December), the watchdog’s market study describes a sector struggling to…

Two tier one contractors have entered not guilty pleas to health and safety offences in two separate cases relating to a death and a serious injury at Hinkley Point C. Both cases have been brought following investigations by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). The first case relates to the…

Profit and turnover plummeted at the UK’s biggest ground engineering specialist following a slowdown in activity on HS2. Bachy Soletanche – which is owned by construction conglomerate Vinci – reported a pre-tax profit of £5.9m in the year to 31 December 2024, 60 per cent down on the £15.7m in…

Contractor Babcock Rail has slipped to a pre-tax loss after work dried up on a number of frameworks and some client budgets decreased. Babcock Rail reported a pre-tax loss of £5.2m in the year to 31 March 2025, after it made a pre-tax profit of £4.8m in the prior year.…

Construction was the worst performing segment of the economy in October, new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has shown. Output in the sector fell by 0.6 per cent in the month, helping to defy economists’ expectations and bring national gross domestic product (GDP) down by 0.1 per…

Contractor Winvic is working to repair a damaged bridge joint on the M62’s Ouse Bridge in East Yorkshire, just months after it was forced to replace newly installed bolts. The £1bn-turnover firm was appointed by National Highways to carry out the repairs in September 2022, but the project has been…

An enforcement notice over fire safety “shortfalls” has been served on the team delivering main civil engineering works at the Hinkley Point C nuclear construction site. The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) served the notice on Bylor ─ a joint venture between Laing O’Rourke and Bouygues Travaux Publics. In a…

Hinkley Point C has halted lifting work and is checking its safety procedures after an incident involving panels being raised at height by a crane. The incident occurred earlier this month, when a panel fell onto scaffolding within an exclusion zone, a spokesperson for the project said. They added: “No…

The government has allocated nearly £900m to complete publicly funded works for the Lower Thames Crossing, according to the Autumn Budget 2025. The extra cash for 2027-2029 announced in Wednesday’s Budget comes just months after £590m of public cash was committed to the project in the 10-Year Infrastructure Plan. It…

Cost rises and delays have hit a major project to build a new road in East Anglia even before a spade has been put in the ground. A report to Norfolk County Council’s cabinet said the 3.5km West Winch Housing Access Road (WWHAR) would now cost £121.8m, an increase of…