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A joint venture (JV) of Aveng Grinaker-LTA and Strabag has been awarded a ZAR1.63bn ($125m) contract by the South African National Roads Agency SOC (SANRAL) for the construction of Mtentu bridge in South Africa.
FLSmidth, a Danish engineering services provider, has secured a contract worth over €100m for the construction of cement plantin North Africa.
Australia-based Infigen Energy has secured financing for the 113.2MW Bodangora wind farm near Wellington in New South Wales, Australia.
RCR Tomlinson in collaboration with Manildra Prop Pty has won an $85M contract to design and construct a major utility solar farm at Manildra in New South Wales, Australia.
Armada Hoffler Properties has partnered with Spandrel Development Partners to build new purpose-built student apartments in downtown Charleston [pictured], South Carolina.
Asia-Pacific has the largest power generation construction pipeline out of the major regions, with $1.67 trillion worth of investments, according to a new report.
Youssef Ouchagour, construction industry analyst at Timetric’s Construction Intelligence Center, analyses the current state of the global data centre construction market and presents five of the largest data centre projects currently under construction in the world.
Balfour Beatty Construction has been selected by Holder Properties to construct phase 1 of the new Blackbaud corporate campus in Charleston, South Carolina.
Campus Apartments, a US-based student accommodation provider, has unveiled three new student housing projects comprising over 1,700 beds in Tennessee, South Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Michelin North America is set to construct a $270M new distribution centre near Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Medical University of South Carolina has broken ground on the $385M Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital and Pearl Tourville Women’s Pavilion in South Carolina.The 10-storey project will include paediatric procedural-surgical capacities, including rooms for bronchoscopy, endoscopy, surgery and interventional radiology.The development will include a dedicated floor for the care of children with cancer and a comprehensive paediatric heart centre.It will also feature two obstetrical operating rooms, a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with 82 private rooms, and an advanced fetal care centre.Medical University of South Carolina’s president David Cole said: “We awarded degrees to more students than ever before, and are on pace to bring in more than $250M in sponsored research funding.”The development is scheduled to open in 2019.
The European and Indian construction machinery markets have shown growth this year, while other regions have seen a slow-down, according to Germany’s engineering association the VDMA.Latest research from the Construction Equipment and Building Material Machinery arm of the VDMA suggests that the machinery sector has grown in regions including France, Germany and India. The Middle East and North America, on the other hand, have registered drops in machinery sales, in addition to the weak markets of Latin America, Africa and parts of Asia. After five years of recession, China still hasn’t recovered from a loss of an accumulated 80% of its volume, says the report.The research also anticipates a drop in the global construction machinery sales due to regional developments, even though German manufacturers are set to register a slight turnover increase of 3%.Johann Sailer, VDMA chairman, said: “This is primarily due to the strong European market.”However, growth might not be equal for all manufacturers, added Sailer: “Depending on where a company’s focuses lie individual results could still be on the negative side.”Building material machinery updateThe report from the VDMA also examines the building material plant and machinery business.The sector is subject to less instability than the construction machinery sector. Nevertheless, manufacturers depend on long-term stable growth markets and these are deficient at the moment — due to the Russian market breakdown. Only Central Europe, India and North America are rated as satisfactory.Overcapacities also present a challenge for manufacturers. When it comes to this, the sector automatically thinks about China, says the association.“We don’t expect suppliers from China to flood the market with their equipment but the trend is clear – when domestic markets are weak companies shift to export markets,” said Sailer.In addition, political and economic uncertainties are present in many sectors. “We don’t want to just keep talking about crises and many current issues do not even have a direct impact on the construction sector. But obviously, news of this kind always affect the investment climate among our customers,” said Sailer.Overall, the VDMA concluded that “the construction equipment and building material machinery industry is indeed a growth sector”.
Mercedes-Benz Vans has started construction of a new $500M plant in North Charleston, South Carolina.The new plant is an expansion of the existing 409,000sq ft van assembly site, which will cover around an additional 112,000sq m along with a 260,000sq m marshalling yard for finished vehicles.Mercedes-Benz Vans’ head of operations Frank Klein said: "Our new Sprinter plant is a big leap into the future of production at Mercedes-Benz Vans. "We are combining all of our global expertise and experience in this plant. In doing so, we make it one of the most advanced facilities in North America. The plant will meet the highest standards in quality, based on our globally standardized production system — from the first vehicle that rolls off the assembly line."The facility is scheduled to commence production before the end of the decade and create 1,300 jobs in the region.
Tunnelling work has commenced on the WestConnex M4 East motorway in New South Wales, Australia. Four road headers have been placed underground to start work on the first WestConnex tunnel. Construction work will be carried out in both directions to create the 5.5km tunnels that will link Homebush with Haberfield, in the first stage of WestConnex.The section between Homebush Bay Drive and Underwood Road is surface motorway, while the rest is twin 5.3m-high tunnels — three lanes in each direction from Homebush to Haberfield.New South Wales premier Mike Baird said: “This is a milestone event for the congestion-busting WestConnex motorway, which will deliver more than $20bn in benefits to NSW and create 10,000 jobs during construction.“Sydney can’t wait a minute longer for WestConnex which will cut 40 minutes from a typical journey between Parramatta and Sydney Airport, and bypass up to 52 sets of traffic lights.”New South Wales minister for roads and freight Duncan Gay said that the government was getting on with delivering much-needed infrastructure for Sydney’s growing population, with tunnelling starting at four different sites over the coming months to build the M4 East, which will open to motorists in 2019.Upon completion, WestConnex will join the M4 and M5 in a continuous motorway with connections at Rozelle, Camperdown, St Peters and Sydney Airport.
Sener and Acciona have begun the turnkey construction of the €500M Kathu Solar Park Complex in South Africa.Located in the town of Kathu, in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province, the 100MW plant will be able to generate enough electricity to supply 80,000 homes.Both firms will carry out the engineering, construction management and commissioning of the plant until its turnkey delivery. The project, part of the 2010 Integrated Resource Program (IRP) National Electricity Plan, will provide an increase in the country's generation capacity until it reaches 86.8GW in 2030.The project, which uses Sener’s ‘SENERtrough’ technology and a molten salt storage system, is scheduled to commence operations in 2018. It represents the second solar thermal project in South Africa on which both companies are working together, the first being the recently-opened 50MW Bokpoort plant.
US-based Blackbaud has unveiled plans to construct a new global headquarters on Daniel Island in Berkeley, South Carolina.The $150M project, to be built by Holder Properties, will include a 33,000sq m eco-friendly campus and is expected to create 300 additional jobs over the next five years.Construction work on the project will commence in late 2016 and is anticipated to be complete in two phases. Phase one of the new campus is expected to be complete by 2018.South Carolina governor Nikki Haley said: “Since 1989, Blackbaud has been a terrific member of the South Carolina family, and this new expansion speaks to the company’s commitment to our state and its people.“The 300 new jobs created by this initiative are a milestone, not only for our Lowcountry community, but also for our state as a whole.”
Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) has inked an agreement with Indonesia-based PT Perusahaan Daerah Pertambangan dan Energi South Sumatra to build a 363km gas pipeline.Under the $600M contract, KOGAS will construct a 245km gas pipeline in South Sumatra, Indonesia and another gas pipeline, measuring 118km, in Bali. It will also operate and provide the project’s maintenance services over a 30-year period.KOGAS aims to conduct a feasibility study and assess the results before making a decision whether to proceed with the project.Established in 1983 by the Korean government, KOGAS operates four LNG regasification terminals and 4,440km of natural gas pipelines in South Korea.
US-based Jacobs Engineering Group has won a contract to deliver engineering services for the expansion of Mitsubishi’s polyester film plant in Greenville County, South Carolina. Mitsubishi Polyester Film, a subsidiary of Japan-based Mitsubishi Plastics, offers a range of polyester films for the industrial, packaging, imaging and electrical markets.Pursuant to the contract, Jacobs will provide engineering services for the $100m project, which includes the installation of a polyester film production line that is expected to combine high level technology with production efficiency.Jacobs’ senior vice president specialty chemicals Andrew Berryman said: “We are excited Mitsubishi chose Jacobs to invest in its existing facility. Our team is committed to delivering a safe, innovative project to support Mitsubishi’s customers and markets around the world.”The project is set to be complete by late 2017.
Kenya Railways has signed a contract with China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) for the construction of the Naivasha-Malaba Standard Gauge Railway line under the Kenya SGR Developments Project valued at KES549bn ($5.4bn).A protocol for the development of a standard gauge railway connecting the port of Mombasa to Kampala, Kigali and Juba was signed and ratified by Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan.Kenya is developing the Mombasa-Malaba section of the entire proposed network to Kigali through Uganda. Construction on the Mombasa to Nairobi section is at an advanced stage.The commercial contract will include four elements: the Naivasha-Kisumu section; Kisumu Malaba section; Kisumu Port Development; and modernisation and expansion of the Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Embakasi in Nairobi.The contract will allow the two companies to jointly conduct a feasibility study for the Nairobi to Malaba section of the project; facilitate transfer of technology; and create skills and capacity for construction, maintenance and operation of the railway upon completion.The Kenyan government has secured a $1.5bn loan from the Chinese government to support the development of Phase 2A between Nairobi and Naivasha. Construction on the project will begin by the end of 2016.
A consortium led by ACWA Power has completed work on the Bokpoort Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province.The project, valued at ZAR5bn ($310.3m), offers more than nine hours of thermal storage capacity. The plant will provide 220,000MWh power annually, which is sufficient to power over 200,000 South African households.ACWA Power managing director for the Southern Africa region Chris Ehlers said: “We are here to serve the nation and to contribute to its development.“Our commitment to the development of South African economy beyond reliably supplying renewable energy at a cost competitive tariff is demonstrated by the ZAR2bn worth of locally sourced components made in South Africa that has been used in the construction of this plant and the creation of 1,300 construction jobs.”The CSP project is the first in a series of investments by ACWA Power in South Africa. The company also plans to start construction on the 100MW Redstone CSP Project in Northern Cape. At the same time, it is waiting for the outcome of tender submissions for a 300MW coal-fired plant in Mpumalanga and a 150MW CSP plant at Northern Cape.
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