The Infrastructure Bank (TIB) in joint venture with the Marina Express Train Service Ltd (METSL) has committed to construct the proposed Lagos Metro Rail Transit (LMRT). The project will gulp a total cost of US$2.4bn.
This was revealed by Sen. Idris Umar the Transport Minister during the Right of Way (ROW) handing over event that took place in Abuja for the construction of the proposed rail line, Iddo-Agbado Corridor. However, the proposed Lagos State Mass Transit Train Services (MTTS) also known as Red Line scheduled to operate in the metropolis of Lagos State.
In line with the report issued by the Minister for Transport, the MTTS Red line will be responsible of moving a massive number of persons in a day from Agbado to Marina axis which will now take a maximum of 4 to 5 hours.
In fact, the project is aimed at easing transport challenges especially in the commercial centre which is the core economy development of the country that is estimated to accommodate a population density of about 20million.
Mr Umar was also pleased over the request by Lagos State Government to the federal government to release the Easter section of the existing NRC Right of Way in Lagos. Expressing his gratitude, he said that the request was well received by a Technical Committee with representatives from the Ministry of Transport, NRC, Lagos state government and Lagos Area Metropolitan Transport Authority (LAMATA) who will look into the possibility of sharing the existing NRC rail corridor in Lagos without interruption in the operation of the corridor.
According to Mr Olusegun Aganga the Industry Trade and Investment Minister, the project will generate between 5,000 and 10,000 direct and indirect jobs opportunities respectively to the immediate State residents.
Construction Review Online
Cement production in Kenya is soon to see a new entrant. A new cement grinding plant is set to be constructed in Western Kenya on a 50 acre piece of land. It is projected to produce 730,000 tonnes of cement every year and hence enhance the competition in the industry.
“The plant will have the capacity to increase cement production in Kenya by 2,000 tonnes of cement per day using raw materials such as clinker, additives, gypsum and pozzolona. With the exception of clinker that will be imported into the country, all the other in-puts will be mined locally,” said the company in its fillings with the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).
East Africa and Kenya in particular has seen increased demand for cement because of the many kinds of infrastructure projects that are ongoing. Some of them include; the Standard Gauge Railway, Lamu Port South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport corridor, Terminal Four at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, and real estate ventures.
Other players intending to increase cement production in Kenya are Dangote Group which plans to develop a US$ 358m cement factory with a capacity of three million tonnes in Kitui, Kenya. Cemtech which is a cement finish and concrete waterproofing company in Mauritius is also planning to construct a US$ 103m plant in Pokot which will have a capacity of 1.2m tones per year.
Construction Review Online
Egypt’s power production is set to increase as the Construction of Assiut power plant in Egypt is set for phase two as phase one is complete.
According to the Orascom Construction the power plant will be able to produce over 375 MW of which will be beneficial to the Upper parts of Egypt.
The power plant once complete will be able to boost an additional power of 1000 MW to the national grid by July. This will make the plant Egypts second largest power supplier and will be a substancial boost to Egypt’s power production needs.
Egypt currently produces 30,000 megawatts with natural gas accounting for for 68.7 per cent of its electricity production, according to the Egyptian state-owned Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC).
According to the project contractor they are determined to complete the project on time since they are also carrying out another great power project in Western Damietta which when completed will be able to generate up to 500 Megawatts to the National Geogrid.
Currently the country is facing a big energy deficit caused by the growing foreign oil companies in the country and also the on and off political instability since 2011.
Orascom Construction (OC) is a leading global engineering and construction contractor primarily focused on infrastructure, industrial and high-end commercial projects in the Middle East, North Africa, the United States, and the Pacific Rim for public and private clients. OC also develops and invests in infrastructure opportunities
Construction Review Online
The construction of a super highway linking Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire is set to kick off and the project will be funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
According to the AfDB outgoing President, Dr Donald Kaberuka the project will start soon since they are currently evaluating on the budget that will be able to complete the project in the recommended time.
The president who was speaking during the Bank’s 50th anniversary sain those are the major projects that the bank is going to endeavor before he finally walks out of the office.
He also added that the highway will ease transportation and link the two nations in order to end the short term fear they have had from each other being caused by Ebola and said the bank is ready to use its resources to fight Ebola.
The outgoing president said many projects in the region have stalled due to the attack by the virus and people in the countries fear getting in touch to each other and also interacting to each other.
Sierra Leone’s finance minister Dr. Kaifala Marah also noted that the country has recorded a big loss over US$1 billion due to Ebola crisis that made the country’s power supply go down by over 129 megawatts in a period of 6 months.
Marah added that the country only had 129 megawatts of electricity from just five megawatts during the war years and we were doing well with agriculture and the economy was listed as one of Africa’s fastest growing economies with the promotion of peace and reconciliation in full swing.
The government in Nigeria’s Oyo state has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese contractor CCECC for the construction of a 24km light rail transport system.
The system will be built in Ibadan, the state capital. Governor Abiola Ajimobi said that the project was long overdue for the state, which has a population of over 10 million. He said that any city with a population of at least two million required a light rail system of transportation.
The aim is to introduce light rail to other cities in the state following construction of the Ibadan system. CCECC chief engineer Li Binj said that his company aimed to transfer cutting-edge technology to the local people who he said would be engaged for the project.
The project will run from Ojoo to Mokola, stretching to the Ibadan end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and is due for completion within three years.
The Construction Index
Laing O’Rourke has been named preferred bidder for one of the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon’s main civil engineering and construction packages.
The £200m deal will see O’Rourke deliver the lagoon’s 410 metre turbine house and sluice structure block.
Up to 500 workers will be on site at peak construction with concrete, reinforcing and other materials set to be sourced locally.
O’Rourke has named Arup as its lead design and engineering partner for the contract.
Former Balfour Beatty chief Andrew McNaughton is Director of Engineering & Construction at the client and will lead delivery of the £1bn Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon.
He replaced ex-O’Rourke director Steve Hollingshead who left the lagoon project last month to run J Murphy & Sons.
McNaughton said: “Announcing that Laing O’Rourke is joining the team is a major step forward for the project.
“As preferred bidder, their contribution over the next few months alongside General Electric and Andritz Hydro will be invaluable in preparing for delivery on site in 2016.”
Jonathan Adams, Project Lead at Laing O’Rourke said: “From London 2012 to St Pancras International Station to Heathrow Terminal 5, we’ve been involved in the delivery of some of the UK’s most celebrated infrastructure projects.
“Today, the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon is the talk of the international construction industry and we are thrilled to be playing a part in its delivery.”
Following advanced works and value engineering, a fixed price contract will be signed later this year for the main build.
Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay Plc has also run tenders for the project’s marine works package and for a package to provide public realm ancillary works with the results due shortly.
Further tenders for the construction of a Turbine Assembly Plant in Wales, and for the lagoon’s public realm and buildings work will proceed through the summer.
Source: Construction Enquirer
Making rail freight the preferred means of supplying material to major infrastructure schemes is among the aims of a new joint initiative launched by the Rail Freight Group and the Mineral Products Association.
The initiative, entitled ‘A Commitment to the Future’ sets out five key measures that the partners will take to develop the UK’s freight logistics. These include supporting development of the rail network and terminals so that major routes can routinely accommodate trains of 450m length, with 2000t of payload.
“We need to unlock the full potential of rail for transporting key materials such as aggregates and cement from production sites to construction markets and to help ensure future national demands can be met,” said Mineral Products Association director of economics Jerry McLaughlin.
The partnership said that over the last decade the construction sector has been increasing its use of rail for freight transport, with industry forecasts predicting further growth of around 2.5% per year.
One example of recent good practice can be seen on the West Coast Main Line, where a siding has just been completed at Little Bridgeford (pictured), allowing track materials and ballast for the Stafford Area Improvements Programme to be delivered by train.
Staffordshire Alliance manager Matt Clark said: “We’re delighted to have the railhead in place. It is great news for the local community as we can take traffic off the roads and deliver our materials direct to the site without affecting the running of the railway.”
The Staffordshire Alliance – a partnership of Atkins, Laing O’Rourke, Network Rail and VolkerRail – is currently working to deliver £250M of investment in the area including new signalling equipment, line speed improvements and a new rail over rail flyover at Norton Bridge.
Work starts soon to build a cable stayed road bridge in Sunderland, two years after a previous and more elaborate design was scrapped after the project was deemed to be unaffordable.
Contracts for the £117M New Wear bridge have been signed and a contracting joint venture of Farrans Construction and Victor Buyck Steel Construction is about to mobilise on site.
The three span bridge will rise to a height of 115m and link the districts of Castletown with Pallion, improving connections between the A19, the city’s centre and port.
The bridge pylon will rise twice as high as the Millennium Bridge in nearby Gateshead and be taller than Big Ben in London. Construction is set to complete within three years.
Sunderland City Council leader Paul Watson said: “As a piece of infrastructure it is one of the region’s biggest civil engineering projects and an investment that is going to help create more jobs.”
Government has agreed to fund £82.5M and the City Council will provide £35M.
In July 2013 Sunderland City Council voted that a previous “landmark” design with an ‘X’ shaped pylon was unaffordable. At the time Councillor Watson had said that the council would review its plans and work within its means.
Bridge consultant Simon Bourne, a critic of the former design, welcomed the new design. “Hopefully the latest version will deliver a scheme that is well engineered with good integrity,” he said. “If that is the case then the cost will almost certainly be acceptable.”
Source: CIHT news
PM claims the 443km Salerno to Reggio Calabria autostrada, which has been plagued by bad management, delays and corruption, will be finished next year
Back in 1966, Lunar 9 was the first spacecraft to achieve a controlled landing on the Moon, England won the World Cup, and Italy opened the first section of the Salerno to Reggio Calabria motorway.
In the intervening half-century space missions have gone on to greater things, England have struggled to repeat their success, and, incredibly, Italy is still plodding on with the construction of the A3, “the eternally unfinished autostrada”, as it’s known.
Construction of the 443km stretch of road, which is supposed to run from Salerno, just south of Naples, down to the capital of the Calabria region, in the toe of the Italian boot, has been plagued by faulty construction, delays and scandal. Campaigners say that during this time it’s come to look like the incarnation of everything that’s wrong with the country, hamstrung by corruption and bad management. “It’s a symbol of how public works are in Italy,” said Stefano Zerbi, spokesman for the national consumer organisation, Codacons.
It’s not lost on anyone that the road stretches from Campania, the regional home of the Camorra crime syndicate, and then passes through the ‘Ndrangheta badlands, including towns such as Rosarno and Gioia Tauro.
When mobsters aren’t creaming off millions from the road building thanks to dodgy contract work, it seems they’re ensuring that the route doesn’t impinge on their other activities. About halfway, the route curves back on itself awkwardly. This detour is said to have been done at the request of a local Mob boss who didn’t want the motorway coming too close to his villa.
This week, however, the Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, who’s on something of a roll in his mission to modernise Italy, after pushing electoral reform through parliament, struck an upbeat note. “We will finish the Salerno-Reggio Calabria,” he told Rai 1 television. “By the end of 2015 all the sites will begin a final speeding up of work and next year at the latest, it will be finished.” Around 3,000 workers are said to be grafting night and day, seven days a week to speed its completion.
But some felt that Mr Renzi had struck an inappropriately triumphal tone, given that 50 years after construction began, the completion day was still uncertain.
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“It’s clear to everyone that it will take a miracle for the work to be complete within one more year,” La Repubblica reported. It claimed that ministry of transport documents referred to the final 20km stretch of motorway, from Laino Borgo to Campotenese, being opened in November 2017.
“I’m surprise at the Prime Minister’s announcement,” said Gigi Veraldi, of the Calabrian branch of the Fillea-Cgil construction workers’ union. “It just sounded like propaganda to us.”
And even if it’s “finished” next year or the year after, it is likely that 43km of the autostrada will lack the emergency lane it is supposed to have. “We’ll believe the work on the road is finished when we see it. And that means with all the safety features it’s supposed to have,” said Mr Zerbi.
“In the meantime the Italian tax payer will continue to be out of pocket, and they still won’t have the road they ought to have had decades ago.”
WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. homebuilders ramped up construction in April to the fastest pace in nearly seven-and-a-half years, hinting at newfound momentum for an economy that has struggled in recent months.
The Commerce Department said Tuesday that housing starts last month increased 20.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.14 million homes. That pace ranks as the fastest clip since November 2007.
Builders appear to have finally shaken off a turbulent winter that shut down construction sites and hampered growth across the economy. The sharp rebound in housing starts after disappointing data in March and February indicates that economic growth might accelerate after being close to flat in the first quarter. It also suggests that builders are responding to tight inventories of existing homes and increased buyer demand due to strong hiring over the past year and low mortgage rates.
"This report should help to assuage fears over the slowdown experienced by the U.S. economy in recent months," said Michael Dolega, senior economist at TD Bank.
Housing starts surged in the Northeast, Midwest and West, while slipping slightly in the South. Construction of single-family houses climbed 16.7 percent in April, an indication that sales of new homes should also rise in the coming months. Apartment building shot up 31.9 percent.
Approved building permits rose increased 10.1 percent from March to an annual rate of 1.14 million in April.
Sales of existing homes jumped 6.1 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.19 million, the National Association of Realtors said last month. But the market has just 4.6 months of supply, compared to six months in what economists consider to be a healthy market. An upswing in housing starts in April — which would put the rate of construction at its fastest clip in three months — could signal that builders are gearing up to meet demand.
Without more inventory coming onto the market quickly, home prices will likely rise, potentially putting them out of reach for thousands of would-be home buyers.
The fast-rising prices may be destabilizing several regional housing markets, according to an analysis by Florida-based appraiser Smithfield & Wainwright.
Home values in 14 states — including Colorado, Massachusetts and Oregon — are significantly higher than both the rental income those properties could generate and the cost of rebuilding those homes. Appraisers have historically used these two measures to assess houses. This particular mismatch suggests that home prices cost at least 10 percent more than either of these measures, a sign that home prices may be at unsustainable levels and could stagnate or even plunge.
In this March 31, 2015 photo, construction on a new apartment complex continues on Pittsburgh's Sou …
Despite the higher prices and increased demand, homebuilder confidence has ebbed in recent months.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index released Monday slipped to 54 this month, down two points from 56 in April. Any reading above 50 signals expansion, yet the decrease suggested that builders still see would-be homebuyers as cautious.
Optimism has faded as the economy has entered into a unique predicament: hiring is solid, yet overall economic growth is feeble.
Employers added 223,000 jobs in April, causing the unemployment rate to slip to 5.4 percent from 5.5 percent. The economy has gained about 3.1 million new jobs — and paychecks — over the past 12 months.
But the economic growth that those paychecks should fuel has yet to materialize. The U.S. economy expanded at an annual rate of 0.2 percent in the first quarter. Before the release of the home construction report, growth was on track for a dismal yearly rate of 0.7 percent in the second quarter, according to estimates by the Atlanta Federal Reserve.
By Josh Boak, AP Economics Writer May 19, 2015 10:13 AM | Yahoo Finance.html
Cranes around St. Paul’s Cathedral illustrate London's office building boom, with 9.5m sq ft under construction
Office building in London has jumped sharply as developers rush to take advantage of rising demand from business tenants.
The amount of office space being built in central areas of the capital rose 24 per cent in the six months to the end of March, a survey of construction activity by advisory firm Deloitte has found — the second-biggest increase in 20 years.
In total, 9.5m sq ft is under construction, with nearly half of all development located in the City, where several new skyscrapers are under way.
Property developers are responding to rising corporate demand from businesses since Britain’s economy returned to growth, the research showed.
In particular, the increase in occupier demand came from technology and creative sectors, which comprised half of all new lettings in the period.
Little new space was built in central London in the five years after the financial crisis, meaning that occupiers now face a supply shortage.
Due to strong tenant demand, the City has the lowest proportion of space under construction that is available to let of any area in central London.
Just half is unlet, compared with 84 per cent in the West End and 59 per cent in the Docklands, according to Deloitte.
The amount of office space available in the City is at its lowest level for more than a decade, separate figures from property adviser DTZ showed. As a result, rents in the area have risen 14 per cent in the past two years.
Source: FT.com