Weekly news round-up - 28 November 2014

Multi billion euro fund for projects, Crossrail 2 could cost £27bn and A-Plant leads the way on apprenticeships.

  1. The European Commission agreed on Tuesday to set up a new fund with 21bn euros (£16.67bn) of capital for projects including transport schemes. It hopes the cash can unlock some 300 billion euros of largely private investment over three years to create a million jobs. Priority projects for the European Fund for Strategic Investment will be international transport, energy and data networks, small firms and ventures that employ young people.

  2. Changes in Gatwick flight paths have prompted Kent County Council to withdraw its support for a second runway at the West Sussex airport. "What has changed is that the National Air Traffic Control have started to implement changes in flight paths This has brought to our attention the concentration in flight paths but also that the number of night flights at Gatwick is about three and a half times the number at Heathrow, which is a massive issue," KCC said.

  3. Skanska and Loughborough University have signed a collaboration agreement to develop the use of 3D printing in construction. The aim of the initial 18-month development programme is to develop the world’s first commercial concrete printing robot. Working with Skanska are a number of influential collaborators including Foster + Partners, Buchan Concrete, ABB and Lafarge Tarmac. As a result of this programme, Skanska aims to explore opportunities opened up by the new technology and help develop a 3D printing supply chain.

  4. Government is to award the East Coast franchise to Inter City Railways, a consortium of Stagecoach and Virgin. 

  5. The first section of track to be used by Crossrail trains has been laid by Network Rail and Carillion. Track went down on the 120m long Stockley Flyover, the largest single span bridge to have been installed anywhere on the Great Western railway since the days of Brunel.

  6. A new study by PWC for Transport for London has put the cost of Crossrail 2 at £27bn if it is linked into regional rail networks. A stand alone London scheme would be cheaper, at c£20bn.

  7. Green energy has overtaken nuclear for the first time to become Scotland’s number one source of power, according to new UK government figures. The latest energy trends report from the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) shows renewables generated 32 per cent more electricity than any other single source of power in Scotland in the first half of this year.

  8. Six fast-growth engineering and technology industries – space, robotics, 3D printing, new energy networks, food manufacturing and cyber security – could significantly boost the UK economy, says the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) in its Ones to Watch report, but action is needed now to ensure that skills shortages and lack of investment do not hamper their potential. 

  9. A-Plant has won CITB Apprentice Large Employer of the Year Award. The company employs over 110 apprentices as part of its 2,400 strong workforce. Over 1,000 applicants typically apply for around 50 new A-Plant Apprentice places released each year.

     

  10. Some of the 56 staff at collapsed wave power firm Pelamis are to be offered jobs at a new technology development body being set up by the Scottish government. Edinburgh-based Pelamis, which had been testing its wave energy converters at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, went into administration last week after failing to secure enough funding to develop its technology.

If you would like to contact Jackie Whitelaw about this, or any other story, please email jackie.whitelaw@infrastructure-intelligence.com.