1. Skanska’s £1m digital ‘tag and track’ scheme to be operational by 2017
A £1m Skanska-led project to implement real-time ‘tagging and tracking’ of building components from the factory floor to the finished building aims to create a workable system by the end of the research period in 2017. Read more…
2. Case study: Francis Crick Institute – Delicate MEP operations relied on BIM
The 12-storey medical research facility near St Pancras station is arguably Laing O’Rourke’s most advanced BIM implementation to date, requiring the contractor to coordinate more than 500 models from at least 10 different software authoring. Read more…
3. Poor air quality threatens health in energy efficient homes
Research monitoring the performance of 20 new-build housing association homes built to Code for Sustainable Homes levels 3 and 4 has found that 19 experienced inadequate ventilation leading to poor indoor air quality. Read more…
4. Graduate creates ‘handy’ power tool to sculpt wood, plaster and stone
Morten Grønning Nielsen, who has just graduated with a masters in design at London’s Royal College of Art, has created a powered glove that allows the wearer to carve wood and stone using their fingertips. Read more…
5. Drones scan California site to monitor worker productivity
Workers and subcontractors on a Turner Construction project in California are taking part in an experiment that will monitor their productivity via an overhead drone. Read more…
6. Leo Quinn: "We’re stable and improving the underlying business"
Revealing a further £130m pre-tax loss in Balfour Beatty’s interim results, new chief executive Leo Quinn this week gave a candid picture of the transformation underway – and the depth of the historic problems. Read more…
7. Dutch team’s robots build a bridge to 3D printing
A tech start-up and a large Dutch contractor planning to build the world’s first 3D printed steel bridge using two automated robots will open a new facility to test the complex software and robotics this month. Read more…
8. Willmott Dixon, Wates to deliver Dutch zero carbon retrofits in UK
Willmott Dixon and Wates Living Space are two of the founding members of Energiesprong UK, a company set up to bring an innovative zero-carbon retrofit scheme from the Netherlands to the UK market. Read more…
9. Universities benefit from industry’s ‘visibility’ as numbers starting in 2015 rise
Early figures from university admissions body UCAS suggest that the number of students being accepted onto undergraduate degree courses in construction in autumn 2015 has risen noticeably. Read more…
10. Ireland offers €1.5m BIM training grants for Irish business in UK market
Enterprise Ireland, the Irish government organisation responsible for developing domestic enterprises in world markets has made up to €1.5m funding available for companies to undertake a seven-day programme with a BIM consultancy. Read more…
Top in Agenda
Making waves at Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon
Andrew McNaughton on the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon power-generation project, which won planning consent in July. By 2019 it could be creating enough green energy to power more than 155,000 homes for at least 120 years. Read more…
Top in Management
Taking the risk out of BREEAM at tender stage
Graham Horne of Manchester-based sustainability consultancy Green Migration offers contractors a guide to early-stage BREEAM. Read more…
Top in International
Patent granted for inflatable space elevator
A Canadian company has been granted a United States patent for the design of a 20km-high tower that would act as a launch pad for space. Read more…
Top in Comment
While Rome burns we play the same tune
Construction 2025 appears to be a fading memory, but the industry’s challenges are in ever-sharper focus. It’s time for the Strategic Forum for Construction to lead from the front again, says Rudi Klein. Read more…
