Costain starts hunt for top tunnellers

Aaron Morby 13 years ago
Share

Costain is searching for skilled tunnellers to boost its expertise ahead of several big national projects coming up for bid.

Over the next few years utility companies will plough billions of pounds into underground cabling and sewage projects.

New tunnelling operations director, Stephen Meadowcroft said the sector was a potentially lucrative field for Costain because there were relatively few rival civil engineering contractors with big tunnelling capability in the UK.

He said: “There aren’t many companies that have that expertise. Having tunnelling in our armoury is a strength.”

In order to ensure that the power networks can continue to deliver Britain’s energy needs in the future extensive new infrastructure will need to be built over the coming years.

Already Costain has won £200m worth of tunnelling contracts in London for National Grid to house power lines as part of a major replacement programme over the next decade.

Work is due to start by the end of this year on the London Cable Replacement Tunnel, which will run 33km across the capital from Hackney in the east to Willesden in the west, via Kensal Green and then on to Wimbledon in south west London..

Mike Napier, strategy and business development director for infrastructure, said: “Many of the underground high-voltage cables serving our large cities are nearing the end of their lives.

“Digging up main routes into London to replace them would cause severe disruption so tunnelling under the capital is the most effective way to secure our energy supply for future generations.”

Also, the Government’s planned construction of a new generation of nuclear power stations, as well as new coal and wind-power stations, will need to be connected to the UK’s power network.

“The output from them is going to be very much greater so, in crude terms, they need more cables to link in to the national grid,” said Napier.

They will also require tunnels to dispose of cooling water out to sea.

Costain has recently completed a contract in West Ham, London to remove the threat of sewer flooding to several hundred homes and work is nearly 50% completed on 11km of tunnels to bring the wastewater treatment of the Brighton area up to modern standards.

Latest news

Lonsdale went down owing £65m to supply chain

More than 600 firms owed money as reduced credit rating sinks M&E giant
3 days ago

Wates only bidder for £80m Cardiff estate rebuild

Council contacted 20 framework firms but received only one bid for 295-home Channel View estate rebuild
3 days ago

£21m legal battle over flawed concrete at Salford flats job

Developer in compensation battle with Arcadis after new concrete core demolished
3 days ago

Abu Dhabi developer Aldar Properties buys London Square

UAE giant swoops on resi specialist in vote of confidence for London market
3 days ago

Hunt for delivery partner to revive New Hospital Programme

Programme delivery partner to get £600m fee to get plans back on track
4 days ago

Green light for new £780m Essex garden village

3,700 homes and four new schools to be built at Dunton Hills
4 days ago

Laing O’Rourke makes a £288m loss

Rampant inflation on fixed-price jobs and problem contracts blow hole in accounts
4 days ago

Keltbray, OCU and Clancy clinch £1bn electricity network upgrade

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks awards biggest ever deals for central southern England
5 days ago

G&T enlisted for commercial review of HS2 main civils contracts

Phase 1 Main Works Civils Contracts to come under cost scrutiny
4 days ago

TClarke order books doubles to top £1bn for first time

M&E specialist on track to exceed £500m turnover this year
4 days ago

Wates signs Government safety remediation pact

Private builder belatedly signs fire safety developer remediation contract
4 days ago

Liverpool all-electric industrial park approved

McLaren and Caddick in chase for Sefton 800,000 sq ft Atlantic Park scheme
4 days ago

Former Buckingham Group MD to join John F Hunt

Simon Hyams is new Managing Director for Contracting
5 days ago

Three in race for retendered £150m A9 dualling job

Bidders take another look after client takes on more risk
5 days ago

Clancy tops £300m revenue in fifth year of growth

Civils contractor delivers £13.5m pre-tax from water and energy sector work
5 days ago

Tower crane collapses on Edinburgh resi site

Jib falls onto apartment block under construction: Video
6 days ago

Salboy drops office space from Viadux Phase Two

Developer to focus on Manchester residential towers of 76 and 23 storeys
6 days ago

Warwick Uni plan for science and engineering campus

370,000 sq ft science and engineering precinct submitted for planning
5 days ago

Morgan Sindall chalks up Greater Manchester schools treble

Bury, Stockport and Wythenshawe school jobs will create 1,600 pupil places
5 days ago

Plans in for £65m Blackpool multiversity campus

Council leads plan for Talbot Gateway learning campus
5 days ago

Laing O’Rourke wins first phase of £700m Oxford R&D district

Landmark Red Hall and two labs to be built in phase 1a of Oxford North scheme
7 days ago

Ardmore wins retrofit deal on £200m Chancery Lane office

Building will be transformed to provide 105,637 sq ft of office space
7 days ago

Construction’s “Leading Lights” recognised

More than 50 winners in latest Considerate Constructors Scheme awards
6 days ago

Balfour Beatty clinches £20m Norfolk coastal defence jobs

Firm will install rock armour at Cromer and Mundesley
6 days ago

Architects join construction union Unite

Section of Architectural Workers forms official branch
7 days ago

Boot to build £20m lightweight aviation composites factory

Work starts on Sheffield University's COMPASS R&D facility
6 days ago

GMI secures £27m Leeds City College job

Site clearance underway for new Mabgate campus
7 days ago

Balfour signs deal with Koreans for UK power transmission jobs

Contractor strengthens large-scale onshore power transmission capability
7 days ago

36 storey south London build to rent flats tower approved

Construction to start next year on £220m Croydon scheme
7 days ago

Hunt for firms for £400m volumetric offsite deal

Procurement for Housing aims to expand its pool of firms on major offsite framework
7 days ago

Contractor services