Building News is an information portal for all professional building specifiers. Here you can find all of the latest construction news from around the UK and the rest of the world.

Historic engineering feat achieved as Chernobyl arch slides into place

Last week marked a key milestone in the international project to transform site of 1986 accident. A ceremony in Chernobyl today marked the successful conclusion of the sliding operation, a key milestone before the finalisation of the international programme to transform Chernobyl into an environmentally safe and secure state by November 2017.

Thirty years after the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, the radioactive remains of the power plant’s destroyed reactor 4 have been safely enclosed following one of the world’s most ambitious engineering projects.

Chernobyl’s giant New Safe Confinement (NSC) was moved over a distance of 327 metres from its assembly point to its final resting place, completely enclosing a previous makeshift shelter that was hastily assembled immediately after the 1986 accident.

Read more: Solar PV plant to be built in Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

The equipment in the New Safe Confinement will now be connected to the new technological building which will serve as a control room for future operations inside the arch. The New Safe Confinement will be sealed off from the environment hermetically. Finally, after intensive testing of all equipment and commissioning, handover of the New Safe Confinement to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant administration is expected in November 2017.

Sir Suma Chakrabarti, EBRD President, commented: “We welcome this milestone in the process of the transformation of Chernobyl as a symbol of what we can achieve jointly with strong, determined and long-term commitment. We applaud our Ukrainian partners and the contractor and we thank all donors to the Chernobyl Shelter Fund whose contributions have made today’s success possible. The spirit of cooperation gives us confidence that the project will be completed on time and within budget a year from now.”

Novarka project director Nicolas Caille said: “We are very proud to have been able to actively contribute to meeting this one-of-a-kind technological challenge. The New Safe Confinement in Chernobyl is a feat of engineering that will ensure optimal safety conditions for the Ukrainian people for the next 100 years. I would like to take this opportunity to commend the achievement of the teams of the Novarka joint venture formed by major French groups VINCI Construction and Bouygues Construction.”

Igor Gramotkin, Director-General of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, said: “We were not building this arch for ourselves. We were building it for our children, for our grandchildren and for our great-grandchildren. This is our contribution to the future, in line with our responsibility for those who will come after us.”

On 26th April 1986, during a safety check, reactor 4 of the Chernobyl power plant experienced a meltdown that could not be contained. As a result, it is estimated that more than 100,000 people have died as either a direct result of fallout or from subsequent radiation-related illnesses. It is also estimated that over £111.7 billion worth of damage was caused by the disaster. These astounding figures prove that regardless of who is considered responsible for the accident, cleaning up Chernobyl is of worldwide concern. If another reactor had blown during the meltdown, Chernobyl could have rendered the whole of Europe uninhabitable.

The Chernobyl arch is the largest moveable land-based structure ever built, with a span of 257 metres, a length of 162 metres, a height of 108 metres and a total weight of 36,000 tonnes equipped. It will make the accident site safe and with a lifetime of 100 years allow for the eventual dismantling of the ageing makeshift shelter from 1986 and the management of the radioactive waste.

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Work begins on tallest religious structure in the world

Construction has begun on what will be the world’s tallest religious skyscraper – a 213 metre Hindu temple in Uttar Pradesh, India.

This article was originally published by The Spaces, a digital publication exploring new ways to live and work.

Once completed, the earthquake-proof structure (called ‘Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir’) will cover more ground than St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City and will be taller than Ulm Minster in Germany, which is currently the tallest church on Earth at 162 metres.

The building, designed by Indian practice InGenious Studio and structural consultant Thornton Tomasetti , will also include a theme park within its walls. It will comprise 70 stories in tiered formation towards the top.

In an article published by ‘The Spaces’, a digital publication exploring new ways to live and work, Project Director of the temple Narasimha Das said “Attractions planned in the theme park would be like park rides, animatronics, light, sound and special effects as well as the Vraja Mandal parikrama shows and laser shows.”

A capsule elevator will take visitors up to a viewing deck, where they can admire the 30 acre of forest surrounding the temple. The lift will also double up as a tourist attraction in itself, serving to take people through the planetary systems of the universe in sound and light.

Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir will be dedicated to Hindu deity Lord Sri Krishna – who, according to scripture, is said to have grown up in Vrindavan.

Social and residential facilities will also be built as part of the project, which will be sold off in order to help fund construction, along with donations from religious devotees.

Work is currently concentrated on the building’s impressively deep 55 metre foundations.

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New report finds local planning is failing the climate change test

Research carried out by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has found that the majority of new local plans in England are failing to cut carbon emissions and to plan for the scale of severe weather predicted over future years.

The study, which examined the most recently prepared plans in England, found that 70% had no carbon reduction targets or any way of monitoring their progress with carbon reduction. While plans did reflect current flood risk, they were generally poor at dealing with future climate impacts such as sea level rise and increased surface water flooding. Only a fraction of plans had recognised the impacts of heat stress or linked climate change with human health. This is despite national policy having firm commitments on climate change.

The full report, Planning for the Climate Challenge? Understanding the performance of English Local Plans, will be launched today at a TCPA event.

Dr Hugh Ellis, Interim Chief Executive at the TCPA, emphasised that there has been a missed opportunity within local plan policy to build in long term adaptation to future climate change impacts for local communities, and to integrate mitigation measures that reduce carbon emissions. He said “In practice a clear political signal has been sent to local authorities to deprioritise climate change and instead to focus solely on the allocation of housing land. Housing growth is vital, but it must be in the right place and to the right standards to deal with the future impacts of climatic change. Local planning can do a great deal to cut emissions and to design places resilient to flooding and overheating, but, the fact remains that many places remain critically unprepared for climate change. Government must act to refocus the system to look at outcomes that will result in secure, resilient and low carbon places.”

The study concluded that significant policy change and new resources were required if the system was going to deliver on is potential in tackling climate change. Sir Graham Wynne, Member of the Adaptation Sub-Committee of the Committee on Climate Change, commented that: “TCPA’s work is particularly relevant in the context of climate change and local planning has a strong impact on the resilience, well-being and sustainability of our communities. As climate change brings more frequent heatwaves and extreme rainfall, local planning decisions can do much to create safer, healthier communities with lower greenhouse gas emissions. This report worryingly finds that too often local plans fail to promote energy efficiency, low-carbon transport, and the sustainable management of water and flooding.”

Katharine Knox JRF Policy and research manager added “This report provides worrying reading for vulnerable communities at the sharp end of climate change impacts. Without better spatial planning, we risk increasing disadvantage among communities at greatest risk. Efforts need to be made at national and local level to respond to these challenges urgently.”

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“Construction industry showing encouraging signs of change to offsite methods”

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Speaking at Explore Offsite Futures at Birmingham’s NEC last week (24th November 2016), Fusion’s head of business development, Robert Clark spoke about the past, present and future opportunities for offsite manufacturing, saying he was starting to see encouraging signs of adoption by the construction industry.

As a designer and manufacturer of light gauge steel frames used by some of the UK’s most significant developers, Fusion is at the forefront of driving education and awareness of how offsite manufacturing methods hold the key to the future of construction in this country.

In his presentation to an audience of around 180 delegates from across all disciplines within the construction industry, Robert outlined the history of Fusion. He spoke about its experience in designing and building frames for low rise housing units through to high rise apartment blocks, and how its strategic view now is to focus on low rise, volume house building to help reduce the UK’s desperate shortage.

Robert recounted stories dating back 15 years when some of Fusion’s first projects were completed and little was really know or understood about the possibilities for offsite manufactured steel frames. Looking at the present, he referred to the widely-read Farmer Review: ‘Modernise or Die’, facing the truth about the drastic shortage of housing in the UK and the devastating decline of skilled labour in the construction industry.

Robert said: “The construction industry – or house building in particular, is faced with a dire situation. We’re still trying to make traditional building methods work but as Mark Farmer said in his review, radical steps need to be taken if we are to avoid an ‘inexorable decline’.”

With offsite recommended as one of a number of solutions, Robert explained projects which were currently underway using Fusion’s intelligent end to end service of design and manufacture and build – but pointed out that up until now, projects have largely been one off developments.

Robert continued: “A change in mindset needs to happen and I’m pleased to say it’s starting to. If we’re to make a serious impact on the construction process and housing shortage in the UK, offsite manufacturing needs to work in collaboration and as part of a developer’s integrated supply chain.”

Robert explained how Fusion was starting to see encouraging signs of change and an adoption of offsite manufacturing methods, from school building projects to a trial programme with the UK’s largest house builder. He also alluded to a branding idea called ‘4LP Homes’ or ‘four little pigs’, the fourth pig having his home made out of steel – strong, warm and built in a factory.

Robert was one of 16 speakers at today’s Explore Offsite Futures event – run as part of series of one day conference and exhibitions creating a platform for construction clients and their professional advisers to explore the latest offsite construction solutions, providing a dynamic and interactive learning experience for all visitors.

For further information visit www.fusionbuild.com and www.exploreoffsite.co.uk.
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Economical ways to build a luxurious home

Building a home of your very own is the ultimate dream for many families. Recently, there has been an addition of the word ‘luxurious’, right before home, in the aforementioned sentence because why not? Each of us wishes nothing but the best, the most comfortable, and the most pleasant for our families. And even though it has become fairly easy to buy such a house, thanks to ready-made luxury properties, building one from scratch still tops the list of aspirations of many.

However, luxuries don’t come easy these days. It can be hard to find a luxury property on sale; building one, even harder. That is why we have made this list of all the economical ways to build a luxurious home and make that dream of yours a reality for your family. Here we go:

1. The Shape of the House

The cost of building a house varies greatly for differently shaped pieces of land. For example, a 2,000-square-foot single-story rectangular ranch-style home will be way more expensive than a-2,000 square-foot two-story square colonial because the colonial’s foundation is based on a smaller piece of land.

The rooms built on the foundation of the colonial will be simpler and rectangular cutting down on overall construction costs. Therefore, preferably go for square shaped homes if you want to save the buck from the very start.

2. Cost and Quality of the Materials

When it comes to materials, you have to make the difficult choice of compromising durability over costs. The standard ‘builder-grade’ materials for homes are least durable and fairly inexpensive. The prices as well as the quality and durability of materials increases as you move on to quality-grade, custom-grade, and ultra-custom-grade home building materials.
Using the builder-grade materials may not be as long lasting an option as the other three, but it will cut down costs by a good notch.

3. Flooring Shenanigans

Ceramic tile or hardwood flooring can really be a cherry on the top, no denying. But, they also cost quite a lot. One way to maintain a balance between your wallet and dreams is going for vinyl flooring, while construction.

Vinyl floors cost less and can be made to look very aesthetic and luxurious with the right furnishing. Also, they make sturdy underlayment for tile or wood if you wish to install either of the two at a later date.

4. Ultimate Affordable Homes

You can get one of those ‘tiny homes’ ranging from 60 to 900 square feet that are delivered to site by the providers or built from scratch. Now there are several options and a vast variety of companies selling these tiny homes. One such company offers models with complete exterior furnishing and upgrades for as little as $12,900. That’s very reasonable! How luxuriously you decorate and utilize the space depends more or less on you!

Rachel Stinson

We hope the dream of building your own luxurious house seems less far-fetched now. Just be very vigilant about where your money goes and what results it generates. And remember, that no house seems luxurious and comfortable from day 1. It becomes so as you begin to own and liven up the place.

Written by guest blogger Rachel Stinson
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2 out of 3 taxpayers unhappy about £369m renovation of Buckingham Palace

Last week, the Treasury announced the ‘essential’ £369m renovation plans for Buckingham Palace. To fund this 10 year endeavour, the Queen has been given a 66% pay rise which will last for the entirety of the project. However, this news has caused a backlash from the general public and has left the UK questioning who should be paying for this refit. Consequently, a petition asking the Queen to pay for this refurbishment herself reached its target in a matter of days, attracting over 140,000 signatures. Now, leading home services marketplace, Plentific.com, has found that 2 out of 3 UK taxpayers feel unhappy with the costs.

Ultimately, 68% of UK taxpayers feel unhappy with the £369m price tag. As the home of Buckingham Palace, Londoners appear more supportive of the final price with only 61% feeling unhappy with the costs. This may be due to Londoners being more aware and accepting of higher costs in the capital, making them less surprised by the level of funding needed for the renovations.

Similar to the referendum and Brexit, Scotland has taken a distinctly negative stance and has proven to be the most unsupportive country in the UK, with 81% of respondents claiming they are unhappy with the costs. 82% of respondents in Edinburgh disapprove of the costs, whilst Glasgow appears to be the slightly more sympathetic with 77% feeling unsatisfied.

With only 54% feeling unhappy with the 369m investment, Bristol shows the highest level of support for the price tag in the country. Brighton, too, shows more understanding for the costs with 59% feeling unhappy.

The results also show that Liverpool (73%), Leeds (70%), Nottingham (78%) and Sheffield (72%) are the least happy of all locations in England.

Spokesperson for Plentific, Stephen Jury, said “Whilst the price for upgrading seems steep, these refurbishments are essential to the safety of the building and will allow Buckingham Palace to continue to attract tourism and generate revenue. For the average UK taxpayer, the cost obviously comes across as a shock, which is highlighted by our research with the majority not being happy with the bill.”

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Autumn statement: Something feels different

Statements from the Chancellor of the Exchequer aren’t always cause for celebration, but this one has left us feeling cautiously optimistic. Chris Coxon, Head of Marketing at Eurocell plc, takes a view.

Wrapped up as the National Productivity Investment Fund – £23bn between 2017 and 2021 – Chancellor Phillip Hammond’s Autumn Statement outlines investments in housing, transport, digital communications and R&D. Within that there’s a £2.3bn housing infrastructure fund, £1.4bn for affordable housing and £1.7m for accelerated construction to speed up house building on public land. This is obviously welcome because of the pressing issue of housing affordability.

If the Government can pump-prime supply then it would be hoped eventually that the improvements in meeting demand would reduce prices – at least at the ‘bottom’ end – and enable the next generation of home ownership.

(As an aside, one topic rarely discussed in respect of housing affordability is how much money large mortgage payments and high rents take out of the real economy, such payments vanishing into institutions and funds and not into the high street).

We will have to wait for the detail of policy in the expected Housing White Paper, to be published ‘shortly’, according to the Treasury. There have been strong hints that offsite construction will feature strongly.

Admittedly, we’ve been here before: construction is a cyclical affair. When skills shortages threaten, thoughts turn to factory-based production; call it prefab, offsite, modern methods of construction, pre-manufacture or flying factories. This would represent a radical departure from how building products currently arrive on site, and caution needs to be maintained if whole sectors of manufacture are not to be detrimentally impacted by this.

The difference this time – maybe – is that this Government understands that its ambitious housing targets will not be met without a sea-change in how housing is delivered and – here’s the important bit – that policy must drive a change. To achieve its targets of 200,00 builds (some say 250,000 to 300,000 are needed) per year, the current methodology has to be challenged and the regime appears to at least be mindful of that, if not quite yet offering solutions.

The exciting bit, for us, was news of the creation of industrial strategy challenge fund – loosely based on the US’s DARPA programme. The areas which the fund will focus on will be decided in due course, yet let’s hope it doesn’t get too hung up on ‘funky’ tech, and encompasses more prosaic sectors such as ours.

Chris Coxon

And there’s something for innovators in the tax regime too. As the statement said: “To ensure the UK tax system is strongly pro-innovation, the government will review the tax environment for R&D to look at ways to build on the introduction of the ‘above the line’ R&D tax credit to make the UK an even more competitive place to do R&D”.

Depending on how both these initiatives play out, it sounds like good news at the moment and the right words and actions from Government provide some reassurance that our investment in innovation today will bear fruit tomorrow.

 

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Good news for construction in Autumn Statement

The extra resources announced by the Chancellor in today’s Autumn Statement for social housing and infrastructure investment will be welcomed by the construction industry.

The promised additional funding should help to address the need for more affordable homes and tackle the shortfalls in the UK’s transport infrastructure. It will also help to offset the impact of faltering in private sector investment on industry workloads.

Social housing providers already have a strong development pipeline, but the realisation of planned projects has been frustrated by recent changes in Government policy. It is vital that the measures announced in today’s statement are implement as soon as possible to enable projects to be quickly brought to site.

The provision of an additional £1.3 billion of additional funds for local and national road projects should help Highways England and councils to accelerate small scale improvements to address ‘pinch points’ in the road network. These schemes can potentially help tackle congestion and improve the UK’s competitive position.

Glenigan data reveals a firm pipeline of projects that have cleared the planning hurdles and could potentially be quickly brought on to site.

The Government’s commitment to supporting a sustained increase in investment in built environment is also encouraging. The new National Productivity Investment Fund promises to add £23 billion in high-value investment from 2017-18 to 2021-22, with the government target this spending at areas that are critical for productivity: housing, research and development and economic infrastructure.

Increasing productivity – put your money where your mouth is

Whilst the budget was a largely positive message for the construction industry, some are understandably weary of whether was has been promised will come into fruition and make Britain productive once more.

Paul Dossett, Partner at Grant Thornton, UK LLP, thinks that building roads and bridges will not solve the UK’s productivity problem. In response to the Chancellor’s announcements around boosting infrastructure, said “Our research with the CEBR has found that if UK productivity reached that of the G7 it would boost GDP by £382bn by 2025. While the government’s focus on infrastructure is welcome, building houses, roads and broadband networks is not the sole answer to addressing the productivity gap between the capital and the rest of the UK. Our Vibrant Economy Index shows the challenges faced by many places in the UK is cultural. Infrastructure is important but building roads and bridges will not solve the productivity problem alone. Instead, we need to start at school, build aspirations and community involvement, and focus on measures that will improve not only economic prosperity but increase the health, happiness and wellbeing of the population.”

Chairman Richard Steer of Gleeds Worldwide commented “The new productivity fund sounds good but we have heard this type of thing before and, whilst it is argued that it will be funded by increased borrowing, the main issue is confidence in the UK and this was not a budget that is going to help enhance the value in the sterling which effects costs, or persuade private sector funders to invest. It was an inward looking budget that appeared to deliver opportunities via raised borrowing. The increased profile of housebuilding initiatives is to be welcomed but until we know answers to questions like whether or not we will have free access to skilled labour, one feels it was more of a wish list than a reliable fiscal forecast.”

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Lack of women in construction could be worse than predicted

The number of females in professional construction roles is less than many analysts predicted, according to a survey carried out by specialist construction recruitment firm, One Way.

In a survey of professionals from across the industry, the firm found that 65% of respondents work in a company where less than 5% of the workforce is made up of women in an actual construction role.

When asked about the challenges for women in construction, over half (58%) stated that businesses themselves are to blame due to a range of issues such as stereotyping in the recruitment process and a lack of commitment from employers. Just over a third (35%) felt that it simply isn’t a popular career choice for women.

The survey – carried out as part of the firm’s #GirlsAllowed campaign which aims to bring together those in construction and education outlets to encourage more girls into the sector – also revealed that the majority (83%) believe that a lack of construction career education in schools is creating a concerning gap in female talent.

Reassuringly, over 80% of those surveyed agreed that they would personally get involved in an initiative to help address the lack of women in construction.

Paul Payne, Managing Director of One Way, commented on the findings “What is clear from these results is that employers need to do more to both attract more women into the industry and embrace them once on board. The results of the survey clearly demonstrate that the sector has a bad reputation when it comes to hiring females and given the severity of existing skills shortages, this simply cannot continue. While we were expecting to find low levels of employment, some of the figures were certainly below our initial perceptions, which makes the need for greater collaboration through initiatives such as the #GirlsAllowed campaign more vital now than they have ever been.

“While it’s great to see so many respondents commit to taking more action, there were some concerning views that came to light that I feel need to be altered immediately. Aside from some of the gender stereotyping comments, other remarks suggested that some in the industry itself don’t think construction is a sector that women should be in. This is quite simply untrue and is an attitude myself and the team at One Way certainly want to turn around.”

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Solar PV plant to be built in Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Two Chinese firms have announced that they intend to rejuvenate Chernobyl’s exclusion zone by building a solar PV plant within its confines.

GCL System Integration Technology Co., Ltd. (GCL-SI) , a subsidiary of the world’s leading energy group GCL, will cooperate with China National Complete Engineering Corporation (CCEC) in delivering the Chernobyl PV plant project thirty years after the Chernobyl accident.

On 26th April 1986, during a safety check, reactor 4 of the Chernobyl power plant experienced a meltdown that could not be contained. As a result, it is estimated that more than 100,000 people have died as either a direct result of fallout or from subsequent radiation-related illnesses. It is also estimated that over £111.7 billion worth of damage was caused by the disaster. These astounding figures prove that regardless of who is considered responsible for the accident, cleaning up Chernobyl is of worldwide concern. If another reactor had blown during the meltdown, Chernobyl could have rendered the whole of Europe uninhabitable.

During the meltdown, vast quantities of radiation were released into the surrounding atmosphere, contaminating approximately 30 km2 of land with fallout. However, the Ukrainian government now aims to give a new renewable life to the exclusion zone. In October, the country’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources claimed the plan to build a PV plant at Chernobyl. “Its cheap land and abundant sunlight constitute a solid foundation for the project. In addition, the remaining electric transmission facilities are ready for reuse,” said Ostap Semerak, Ukraine’s minister of environment and natural resources.

Two Chinese companies will play significant parts in Chernobyl’s revival. CCEC are the general contractor and will manage the overall project. GCL-SI will offer consultancy and planning service as well as PV facilities to the project. According to GCL-SI, construction of the over 1 GW PV plant is expected to initiate in 2017. Once completed, Chernobyl will once again catch the global attention; this time as a revived site of solar energy.

“There will be remarkable social benefits and economical ones as we try to renovate the once damaged area with green and renewable energy. We are glad that we are making joint efforts with Ukraine to rebuild the community for the local people,” said Mr. Shu Hua, Chairman of GCL-SI.

Regarding GCL-SI’s overseas strategy, Mr. Shu further commented: “We have been dedicated to providing integrated solar services and will take diverse approaches this year to drive penetration and achieve global presence. The Chernobyl project is also one of our key steps to approach abroad.”

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