Contractors are being invited to bid for a £25m coastal defence scheme to save large parts of Cardiff from floods.

Cardiff Council is planning to replace existing defences along the mouth of the Rhymney River, due to erosion and growing risks of flooding from climate change.

The plans include putting 100,000 tonnes of rock on the coastline, raising the riverbank behind and raising embankments next to a highway.

Works could begin on site by next Spring, and finish by October 2023. The Welsh Government will fund 85% of the works with the council paying the rest.Firms wishing to express an interest in bidding can click here.

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Glasgow City Council has set out a £30bn portfolio of investment projects designed to aid the city’s ambition of becoming net-zero by 2030.

The green plan pinpoints key projects to transform the city. These include building a Glasgow metro to service the city and wider region, construction of a ‘green cap’ above the M8 at Charing Cross to open public realm over the motorway and a city-wide £10bn retrofit programme.

Cllr Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council said: “A core element of Glasgow’s Green Deal our ‘Greenprint’ brings together transformational, investable and shovel-ready projects.

‘From an entire new transport system better connecting citizens to opportunities, generating renewable energy from the River Clyde and upgrading hundreds of thousands of homes across our city region, the Greenprint projects will deliver the infrastructure necessary for a low carbon, climate-resilient future.”

10 featured projects in the Greenprint

Glasgow City Region Home Energy Retrofit Programme

A ten-year £10bn programme to upgrade the insulation of all homes in the Glasgow City Region to achieve net zero carbon emissions. The project explores the use of innovative renewable technologies to deliver clean energy.

Glasgow’s District Heating Network

Build a wider district heating network. Two key projects in Polmadie and Gorbals Districts act as testbeds and a unique and innovative proposal to harness the power of the River Clyde for the city’s heat demands is underway.

Climate Neutral Innovation District

The University of Strathclyde is leading an ambitious project to make the Glasgow City Innovation District 100% climate neutral and climate resilient.

Charing Cross M8 Green Infrastructure Cap

Revitalise and re-green the city’s public realm including a cap over a major interchange of the M8, the busiest motorway in Scotland.

Glasgow Metro

A new transport provision that will improve connectivity within Glasgow and the wider City Region encompassing a population of 1.8 million.

Scottish Event Campus (SEC) Expansion

£180m expansion plans including an ambitious energy concept aim to turn the SEC into one of the world’s most sustainable campuses and includes several globally competitive and cutting-edge conference and exhibition innovations.

Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland

With outline planning permission and on-site enabling works, around £150m will be invested in an emerging centre of excellence and innovation as part of Scotland’s answer to balancing manufacturing requirements while meeting net zero commitments.

Micro Park Apparel Project

Micro Park will aim to create a new location for fashion production in the UK, embedding circularity across all areas of activity including resource use, textile and fibre reuse and packaging.

Green Regeneration and Innovation District

As Scotland’s first Green Regeneration and Innovation District, Clyde Gateway offers investment opportunities in this regeneration areas across all sectors including commercial, residential and hotel, will encourage circularity in the built environment.

Clyde Climate Forest

The Clyde Climate Forest aims to plant 18m trees in Glasgow City Region over the next decade, significantly increasing the extent of atmospheric carbon fixation through tree growth in the region.

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Property developer Caudwell has confirmed Mace as construction manager for its super prime Audley Square development in Mayfair.

The development by Phones4U entrepreneur John Caudwell will create 29 residences with completion scheduled for late 2025.

Caudwell’s ambition for Audley Square is to create the finest residential building in Mayfair to be built in recent decades.

The seven storey building has been designed by New York-based architect Robert AM Stern and the façade will be finely crafted with inspiration taken from Mayfair’s heritage.

PJ Carey has been working on the substructure and superstructure under a £60m contract, with specialist EDM also on board to deliver a Portland stone façade with balustrades, ornamental fretwork etched onto the frontage and curved balconies.

Careys has just started construction of the basement slab for the planned concrete frame

Audley Square is the second prime real estate appointment in Mayfair for Mace this year, following the successful award to deliver 38 Berkeley Square, a new prime commercial office building on behalf of developer Astrea last month.

Andy Jones, Managing Director for Major Projects at Mace, said: “Audley Square is a mesmerising residential development.

“Following successive super-prime project completions, Mace has a deep and rounded project and people experience in this niche delivery space.

“We’re confident that our technical expertise and Caudwell’s vision will further enhance Mayfair with this standout collection of residences at Audley Square. We look forward to working with Caudwell and delivering a true once in a lifetime project.

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Bathroom pod manufacturer Offsite Solutions has been awarded its second contract for the UK’s largest listed residential landlord Grainger plc.

The latest deal is to manufacture 567 steel-framed bathroom and shower pods for Exchange Square in Birmingham which is under construction by main contractor McAleer & Rushe. The pod deliveries to site will begin towards the end of 2021 and will be completed by summer 2022 as the building’s structure is constructed.

Exchange Square is developed by Nikal for Grainger plc and will provide 375 homes for rent in a landmark 37-storey tower.

Designed by Stephenson Hamilton Risely Studio, the £68m scheme occupies a prominent location opposite HS2 Curzon Birmingham. Completion is scheduled for summer 2023.

The bathroom pods for Exchange Square will have dark grey, large format porcelain wall and floor tiles with staggered ‘brick bond’ tile joints to the walls. The bathrooms will be fully fitted in the factory with a three-door mirrored cabinet, a solid surface vanity shelf, semi-pedestal wall hung basin, bath with glass hinged shower screen, heated ladder towel rail, and floor mounted toilet. The shower rooms will have a two-door mirrored wall cabinet and a sliding shower door.

Helena Tsiantes Jansson, Senior Forward Fund Development Manager at Grainger plc, said: “We fully support the use of offsite manufacturing and for the bathrooms, it gives us the unique opportunity to check the pods in the factory before going into full production. This allows us to review the design detailing and make any minor changes, which is just not possible on site.

“Following our recent visit to Offsite Solutions’ factory, we were very impressed with the quality of the finishes, particularly the grouting and tiling. The quality was spot on and will result in a better quality product for our residents. Fitting out the bathrooms in a factory which has much more space and light than on site, definitely impacts positively on quality. It is also much easier for us to deal with a single supplier for the bathrooms.”

Offsite Solutions is also manufacturing pods for Enigma Square in Milton Keynes – another Grainger build-to-rent scheme which is under construction by Bowmer and Kirkland.

The independent Inquiry into the construction of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Campus (QEUH) in Glasgow and the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and Department of Clinical Neurosciences (RHCYP/DCN) in Edinburgh starts today.

The Scottish Hospitals Inquiry will hear from affected patients and families when the first oral hearings begin on Monday.

The inquiry will determine how issues relating to adequacy of ventilation, water contamination and other matters impacted on patient safety and care and whether these issues could have been prevented.

It will also examine the impact of these issues on patients and their families and whether the buildings provide a suitable environment for the delivery of safe, effective care. It will make recommendations to ensure any past mistakes are not repeated in future NHS infrastructure projects.

The inquiry was ordered after patients at the Glasgow hospital died from infections linked to pigeon droppings and the water supply, and the opening of the Edinburgh site was delayed due to concerns over the ventilation system.

Lord Brodie, Chair of the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry said: “No other group has been more affected by these issues than the patients and families from whom we will be hearing in the next few weeks.

“Their experiences will help inform future lines of investigation as we turn our attention to subsequent phases of the Inquiry.

“This first diet of hearings is the culmination of a year of preparation, providing us with a foundation to ensure that the Inquiry is led by the evidence it uncovers during the course of its lifetime.

“Ultimately, our role is to understand what went wrong with the construction of these hospitals so lessons can be learned to prevent the recurrence of such issues in the future.”

The following organisations have been designated as core participants by the Chair:

Currie & Brown UK LimitedGreater Glasgow Health BoardIBI Group (UK) LimitedIHS Lothian LimitedLothian Health BoardMott MacDonald LimitedMultiplex Construction Europe LimitedNHS National Services ScotlandScottish Futures TrustThe Scottish MinistersTÜV SÜD Limited

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Thompsons of Prudhoe successfully brought down the iconic Dorman Long tower at the former Redcar steelworks in an explosive demolition over the weekend.

The building was brought down in the early hours of Sunday morning in a series of 10 second controlled explosions which saw four major structures demolished at once.

The project went ahead after new culture secretary Nadine Dorries overturned a decision by Historic England last week to grade II list the concrete coal silo, which campaigners were battling to save as a symbol of Britain’s industrial heritage on Teesside.

An independent report by engineers Atkins showed “ongoing and irreversible” damage to the structure meant it could cost between £7m and £9m to secure and maintain.

Concrete cracking and weakening saw concerns raised about demolition costs rising further in future years.

Structures before being brought down in controlled demolition by Thompsons

The demolition, which was carried out at night in order to avoid disruption to train services, paves the way for a mammoth new factory to manufacture wind turbine blades.

Wind turbine manufacturing and assembly facility at Teesworks

The huge 800,000 sq ft facility, in the South Bank zone of the Teesworks site, will sit alongside a new 1km heavy lift quay, creating the UK’s premier location for offshore wind.

Construction is due to begin in October sustaining 2,250 construction jobs before the factory comes on line.

The first blade is expected to roll off the production line in 2023, with the factory serving Dogger Bank, the world’s largest wind farm located just 80 miles off the North East coast.

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A construction contractor has become the first firm fined following a Covid spot check at a site in Manchester.

The HSE revealed it has carried-out 316,000 Covid spot checks across all industries since the start of the pandemic – with only one prosecution so far.

Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard that on 9 July 2020, a safety inspector performed a proactive Covid-19 spot check at a construction site in the city.

During the inspection, a host of safety issues were identified including working at height, welfare, Covid-19, site security, and electricity. The principal contractor was served with a Prohibition Notice and two Improvement Notices.

A return inspection was made on the 17 August 2020, after very little communication from the principal contractor. Little or no improvements had been made regarding the issues and additional enforcement action was required, including a further Prohibition Notice regarding an unsupported excavation.

It was subsequently established that the contractor had failed to comply with any of the Improvement Notices HSE had served.

Principal contractor Umar Akram Khatab, now resident in Bradford, pleaded guilty to safety breaches and was sentenced to a 12-month community order. He was also ordered to pay £3,000 towards costs and a victim surcharge of £95.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Rebecca Vaudrey said: “HSE prides itself on being a proportionate and evidence-based regulator. Since the beginning of the pandemic HSE has carried out more than 316,000 Covid spot checks, with the priority to urgently make workplaces safe from transmission risks, rather than heavy-handed enforcement.

“These checks have demonstrated that the majority of employers want to do the right thing to ensure their workers go home safe and well.

“This is the first prosecution to arise from the Spot Check programme. We’ve repeatedly stressed that prosecution is a last resort, but this case clearly illustrates that where there is consistent disregard to Covid or other risks to employees’ health and safety, HSE will use its powers to take action.”

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Health and Safety Executive investigators have shut down a section of the M6 smart motorway widening after a 13 tonne excavator was upended in the central reservation last Friday.

The excavator operator is understood to have escaped without injury but shaken after his machine toppled backwards into a central reservation drainage trench on the Costain project just north of junction 21A.

Thomas Plant had the short radius excavator on hire, which was being used by Manchester drainage contractor SGC Civil Engineering for drainage works in the central reservation area.

HSE inspectors are now understood to have shut the site down for the rest of this week to carry out an investigation into the incident.

Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has been sacked from his role as Boris Johnson carries out his cabinet reshuffle today.

Jenrick was appointed just over two years ago, replacing James Brokenshire, and at 37 became the youngest member of the Cabinet,

It has not been announced who will replace him.

He tweeted: “It’s been a huge privilege to serve as Secretary of State @mhclg.

“Thank you to everyone at the department for their hard work, dedication and friendship. I’m deeply proud of all we achieved.

“I will continue to support the Prime Minister and the Government in every way I can.”

Firefighters battled a blaze on Wednesday afternoon at the £120m Milburngate development in Durham being built by Tolent.

County Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue said the blaze broke out in a cavity wall.

Eight crews tackled the blaze which also led to nearby road closures in the city centre throughout the day.

Tolent is delivering the first phase of the mixed-use development where the structural steel frame reached completion in March.

The contractor said the site was safely evacuated.

Andy Mills, 49, a curtain wall installer who had been working on the site told the Sunderland Echo: “All of a suden it just went ‘whoosh’ with massive black clouds of smoke. We were on the third floor, the alarm had been sounded by then so we ran out to get to the muster point.

“It happened so quickly, it was unreal. I’ve never seen anything like it how fast it went up, really fast. We couldn’t breathe when running down the stairs and had to cover our faces. Luckily enough everyone I know got out safely.”

Phase One of the scheme is due for completion in the first quarter of 2022.

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