£137m Havant Reservoir contracts out for tender
A new reservoir is due to commence in 2024 for 5 years due to the increase in demand for water because of climate change and population growth in Havant. The new project will enable more water sharing in the region and decrease taking from rivers and underground aquafers (which erodes the environment). The reservoir will capture water from underground springs during winter to save for the summer which are currently running out to sea. Plans were first drawn up in 1964 and reviewed in 2008. Portsmouth Water are currently looking for submissions, deadline 15 February, apply via this link.
40 New Hospitals by 2030
£3.7 billion has been budgeted for 40 ‘new’ hospitals (plus a possible 8 more) by 2030 as part of the new Health Infrastructure Plan by the UK Government. The largest hospital building plan in a generation, the plan is for the new hospitals to service throughout the UK especially in the North as part of the ‘levelling up agenda’. You can find the list of new hospitals here. Some controversy surrounds the issue as the bulk of the funds are going to just 6 hospitals and a lot of projects are not entirely new but rebuilds or renovations. The funding has been distributed through the individual trusts.
More COVID disruption
Another week, another COVID guidance note! Here we are in a dystopian world where UK Government has decreed in its’ latest announcement that anyone who can’t work from home should go to work, specifically mentioning Construction workers, citing the new ‘super strain’ of the virus as the cause. However, some projects are already being delayed, for example Laing O’Rourke’s £160m Salford Tower ‘Waterloo Place’ consisting of 545 new flats development initially scheduled to commence in Q2 instead of now as initially planned. Anyone wondering how to work safely during the pandemic can check out beable ® wearable by EMS, a tracking bracelet that records interactions between workers and allows your site to continue to operate safely through the pandemic.
UK Top 100 Contractors and Clients by Value
The top 100 UK contractors might have suffered a 30% fall in the value of contract awards in 2020 but Morgan Sindall tops the charts with £1.56 billion of work with Kier and Royal BAM a close second and third. In terms of clients, Department of Transport with £2351.8 million worth of work beat Department of Health and Network Rail. Full list according to Construction Enquirer is available here