The UK Construction Blog

A major regeneration project is to take place in north Tottenham.

Haringey Council and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club have made a joint pledge to commit to the scheme which will result in a new Premier League stadium, with a capacity of 56,250 and painted in the team’s colours.

Alongside this will be leisure facilities, homes and shops, improved public spaces, an enhanced environment and additional heritage work.

Parking and highways will also be upgraded and a power and heating scheme will be implemented district-wide.

The local authority is to put £9 million into this initiative, while the London Mayor has committed £18 million and the football club is believed to have invested hundreds of millions of pounds into the scheme.

It is known as the Northumberland Development Project.

Construction sector workloads are set to drop in the immediate future.

This is according to a director of external affairs at the Federation of Master Builders, who said small and medium-sized enterprises and larger contractors are all experiencing a fall in activity at the moment.

House-building activity is still struggling to meet the UK’s projected requirements and the government is spending less money on construction projects, he remarked.

The expert argued members of the public do not have as much disposable income as they used to have, which has negatively affected demand for repair and maintenance projects. They concluded: “All of this adds up to falling workloads and a drop in confidence for construction activity.”

The FMB is the building industry’s largest trade association in the UK.

Mobile CAD Surveys can accommodate either a simple single property floor plan to a complete schedule of buildings with all types of data collection. So if you need any type of Measured Building Survey then please contact us.

We can provide Floor plans,  Elevational drawings, or a Topographical survey and all types of Measured Building Survey with varying levels of detailed work – from simple walls, columns, doors and window surveys, to a fully detailed data set including all 3D information including cill & head heights, stair riser and going details, door heights, ceiling heights, beam details, fitted furniture etc.. As part of our measured surveys, the surveyors can also pick up and highlight other information for example: any electrical and data points, sanitary fittings, incoming mains positions, plant, fire fighting and detection equipment, security equipment, signage and so on.

An accurate  topographical survey or land survey is essential to any project that you are considering and can lessen the possibility of costly mistakes or unforeseen issues later on.  The amount and type of topographical survey data that we collect on site is always based on your specification. However, our experienced land surveyors will use their knowledge of planning and development issues and requirements to provide additional information that might be vital for any future design or planning application. We are also able to gather information from any utility companies which can be added to your topographical survey drawings..

Photogrammetry services:-

• The photographs may be archived for future use.
  
• The photographs may be used either for monitoring or for the generation of data.
  
• The technique is non-intrusive.
  
• The technique is ideal for recording detail of a complex nature (see illustrations below)
  
• A high level of accuracy is achievable.
  
• The use of digital data ensures total flexibility.
  
• The level of detail to be extracted may be determined either by the client or the photogrammetrist.
  
• It is cost-effective.

We can also provide other additional land surveying services that you may require, for example; underground services tracing ( UPR – Underground Penetrating Radar) and 3D laser scanning enable us to provide you with a one-stop-shop for your surveying requirements.

for more information, please visit:-

Mobile CAD Surveys

A construction worker has amazingly survived after shooting a three inch nail into his head.

Jeff Lupak, 45, said he felt no pain after the accident in Bismarck, North Dakota, but was convinced he was going to die.

Even doctors were amazed that he was still alive when he was rushed to hospital where an X-ray showed just how far the nail had penetrated into his skull.

But incredibly the nail had missed all the major arteries and was lodged between his brain’s left and right hemispheres.

Despite feeling no pain Mr Lupak, a father of three, was told the seriousness of his injury.

One doctor told him: ‘Leave it in, it’ll rust and you’ll die of infection. Pull it out and you’ll bleed to death.’

A surgical team led by neurosurgeon Dr Eric Nussbaum at the National Brain Aneurysm Center in St Paul, Minnesota, took more than an hour to remove the nail.

Dr Nussbaum said: ’He was very lucky. I mean this is a potentially fatal injury depending on what structures it hits on the way.’

Mr Lupak was working on a construction site in Bismarck when he asked a colleague to hand him a 16 gauge nail gun.

As he grabbed the gun he heard it go off and felt a stinging sensation in the back of his head.

The co-worker began shouting that Mr Lupak had been shot with the gun – but Mr Lupak said he only felt a slight pressure in the back of his head.

After being taken to a hospital in Bismark he was flown to St Joseph’s Hospital in St Paul where neurosurgeons were waiting to carry out an operation to remove the nail.

His wife Kim was taken to the hospital where she was given an X-ray showing the nail protruding into her husband’s skull.

The operation proved a success and Mr Lupak is recovering in hospital with his only problem moving his left toes and ankle.

Doctors have said he will make a full recovery. Mr Lupak, a construction worker for 28 years, admitted he was lucky to be alive.

‘Somebody was looking out for me,’ said the husband and father of three daughters.

Architects seeking work on the government’s £2 billion schools building programme must pair up with contractors now or risk losing out.

The Priority School Building Programme (PSBP), originally due in December, is expected to be announced this spring following a deluge of applications from schools wishing to be included.

Richard Cottrell, director at Cottrell & Vermeulen, said: “At the moment the major players are aligning themselves up to deliver within the new goalposts set, such as cost parameters. That will be the challenge: to meet the requirements of the new brief.”

It is expected that the government, which is working to replace the scrapped £55 billion Building Schools for the Future programme, will ask for designs to deliver more capacity for schools, whether they are new-builds or refurbishments, under stricter budgets. As with BSF, the PSBP will include tranches of work on schools.

Keith Rayner, director of education at Bam Construction, said that the necessity to win work was “even greater than in previous years”.

He added: “There are a number of architecture practices with the necessary experience [in terms of the work and procurement], and any firm that wants to be involved should speak to contractors now.”

Chris Harding, head of education at BDP, said: “We’re in discussions with various contractors about how we would answer this new challenge.

“Sometimes with the most heavy constraints you get a shift in how you approach things and we might end up with some very creative work.”

The elevation of the architect over the engineer is to blame for today’s cities being full of unsustainable buildings, Ken Shuttleworth told engineers and students at Imperial College.

Architects are able to get away with their “orgy with glass” because engineers have lost their voice, he said, delivering the Worshipful Company of Paviors’ annual lecture on Tuesday.

The founder of Make urged engineers to “find a new Brunel” who could represent them on television and push an environmental agenda.

“In the 19^th century the engineer was king,” he told the audience. “Then architects took over and design became paramount which led to this orgy with glass.

“If the engineer says ‘you can’t have this much glass’ he is sacked and replaced. Engineers need to become more assertive and tell architects what to do.

“Find the best engineer at speaking and put them on TV. Plenty of architects have knighthoods and get on TV. You need a new Brunel to promote engineering,” added Shuttelworth, who spent 30 years at Foster & Partners.

Questioned about the sustainability of Make’s plan to demolish part of the 1980s Broadgate Centre, he said conversion simply wasn’t possible.

Its £340 million replacement was London’s first sustainable office project which tried to reflect the “death of bling”, he added.

“Buildings aren’t built to be monuments. They are commodities that are built to be demolished,” he said.

“London has so many historic buildings and if you can’t knock anything down the city will stagnate. Sense has to prevail. Keep what you can keep and what works and if not, do something better.”

If you need a Measured Building Survey or a number of surveys or a complete schedule of buildings surveyed then we can accomodate you.

We can provide Floor plans,  Elevational drawings, or a Topographical survey and all types of Measured Building Survey with varying levels of detailed work – from simple walls, columns, doors and window surveys, to a fully detailed data set including all 3D information including cill & head heights, stair riser and going details, door heights, ceiling heights, beam details, fitted furniture etc.. As part of our measured surveys, the surveyors can also pick up and highlight other information for example: any electrical and data points, sanitary fittings, incoming mains positions, plant, fire fighting and detection equipment, security equipment, signage and so on.

An accurate  topographical survey or land survey is essential to any project that you are considering and can lessen the possibility of costly mistakes or unforeseen issues later on.  The amount and type of topographical survey data that we collect on site is always based on your specification. However, our experienced land surveyors will use their knowledge of planning and development issues and requirements to provide additional information that might be vital for any future design or planning application. We are also able to gather information from any utility companies which can be added to your topographical survey drawings..

We can also provide other additional land surveying services that you may require, for example; underground services tracing ( UPR – Underground Penetrating Radar) and 3D laser scanning enable us to provide you with a one-stop-shop for your surveying requirements.

for more information, please visit:-

Mobile CAD Surveys

The new Morrisons Regional Distribution Centre at Bridgwater in Somerset that covers nearly 60 acres and provides over 71,000 square metres of warehousing to distribute Morrisons goods to 63 stores in the West and South West of England and South Wales.

DLA Architecture specified over 2.5km of safety barriers to protect people, plant and equipment throughout the site. This specification not only met the approval of the client – Morrisons.

Just over 1.5km of barrier has been installed inside the warehouse and nearly 1km outside. This included nearly 800m of Berry’s Spring Steel Buffers on which a “warehouse rail” is mounted below a standard barrier rail to provide protection to pedestrian walkways from forklift trucks and other warehouse vehicles. The extra lower rail prevents the forks penetrating into the walkway below the standard barrier.

The varying styles specified reflect the different risks identified in specific areas and illustrates how the Berry Systems’ range can cope with virtually any requirement with a barrier that has been independently tested to prove its performance to the appropriate level.

There is also a waste recycling centre to deal with all the cardboard and paper waste inevitably generated and the access ramps to this part of the facility.

Morrisons have contracted DHL to run this regional distribution centre and it is now gradually working towards full capacity and is expected to handle over 2 million cases in 2012 from up to 800 vehicle movements per day.

The Blue Light Partnership, comprising Miller Construction and Bilfinger Berger Project Investments, has been named preferred bidder for the £129m Avon and Somerset Police Accommodation PFI Project.

The project comprises the development of four new facilities at Portishead, Bristol Patchway, Keynsham and Bridgwater. The contract also includes responsibility for maintaining the buildings for 25 years.

In addition to supplying project investment, Miller Construction has been appointed principal contractor.

Chris Webster, chief executive, Miller Construction, said: “We are delighted to have received preferred bidder status for the Avon and Somerset Police Accommodation PFI Project. We have a successful track record in the delivery of PPP projects across the UK where our expertise in assisting public partners to finance projects covers a variety of markets.”

The overall project includes a Somerset Operations Base which will be home to a Custody and Crime Investigation Centre, Specialist Operations and an Enquiry Office; a Custody and Crime Investigation Centre and Police Station in Patchway; a Custody and Crime Investigation Centre in Keynsham and a Tri-force Indoor Firearms Training Centre for Avon and Somerset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire police forces, near Portishead.

Construction work is expected to start in summer 2012 with the buildings being open from 2014

Workers at a leading construction firm have voted in favour of strike action in a long-running row over pay and conditions, it was announced last night.

Unite said its members at Balfour Beatty Engineering Services (BBES) backed industrial action by 67 per cent after being re-balloted following a legal challenge to an earlier vote.

Electricians, plumbers and heating and ventilating engineers were among those who voted for strike action which Unite warned could hit high-profile projects and sites such as Crossrail, Grangemouth and Sellafield.

Unite said it had given an undertaking to the courts that it would not call industrial action until after the outcome of a hearing due to be held next Tuesday after another legal challenge from the company.

The union is in dispute with seven firms, claiming they have “torn up” agreements and set new pay and conditions in the industry.

Unite has reported the firms to the Office of Fair Trading, claiming they acted in an anti-competitive way by “driving down” pay and conditions.

A total of 295 Unite members voted in favour of a strike, 145 voted no, with six spoilt papers in a 50 per cent turnout.