Global Construction Review -Railway

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Germany Approves €24Bn Fund To Kickstart Hydrogen Economy
Global Construction Review -Railway
Germany Approves €24Bn Fund To Kickstart Hydrogen EconomyGermany’s state-owned development bank KfW has approved a €24bn loan to support the construction of the country’s core hydrogen network. This will involve converting gas pipelines to carry hydrogen, creating a 9,040km-long system by 2032.  The aim is to link hydrogen production sites with industrial centres and the wider European network. The €24bn will be paid into an amortisation account and made available to the private companies that build and operate the network.  This will help them get on with the work despite the low returns they can expect in the first years of the project.  Germany’s Federal Network Agency, which will oversee the asset, will set a ceiling for network fees to create an incentive for customers to switch to hydrogen. Stefan Wintels, chief executive of KfW, said the construction of the network was a “pioneering project” and crucial for the future of hydrogen.  He added: “A successful transition to hydrogen is particularly critical for energy-intensive industries. The amortisation account will play a key role here: the funds provided by KfW via the account will make a significant contribution to a viable financing concept for the hydrogen core network.” The authorities hope the move will kickstart the sector, which has appeared to be stalling. In September, the plan to move to a hydrogen economy received a blow when Norwegian energy company Equinor scrapped plans to export hydrogen to Germany over fears of high costs and low demand (see further reading).  ‱ Subscribe here to get stories about construction around the world in your inbox three times a week Further reading
railway
Nov 29, 2024
Riyadh Metro To Open After 12-Year Multinational Mega Project
Global Construction Review -Railway
Riyadh Metro To Open After 12-Year Multinational Mega ProjectSaudi Arabia’s King Salman officially inaugurated the Riyadh Metro on Wednesday, ending a 12-year megaproject involving dozens of engineering, design and contracting firms from all over the world. Estimated to have cost in the region of $23bn, the driverless system has six lines totalling 176km, with 85 stations, 34 of them elevated. Signature architects designed four, iconic interchange stations. The system is designed to carry up to 3.6 million passengers a day, bringing relief to commuters in a rapidly growing city choked by the cars it was designed for. Since preparations for the metro began in 2012, Riyadh’s population has grown nearly 40% to 7.8 million. “Today, Riyadh City is reaping the benefits of this project that will reshape the capital’s image and redefine mobility for its residents and visitors,” said Ibrahim bin Mohammed Al Sultan, chief executive of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City. The system will open for passengers in phases, with lines 1, 4, and 6 (Blue, Yellow, and Purple) opening on Sunday, 1 December. Lines 2 (Red) and 5 (Green) are scheduled to open 15 December, while Line 3 (Orange) is set to open on 5 January. In 2013, three international construction and engineering consortia were awarded contracts to design and build the lines and stations. The “FAST” consortium won the biggest package, delivering lines 4, 5, and 6. It was led by Spain’s FCC with partners Samsung C&T (South Korea), Alstom (France), Strukton (Netherlands), Freyssinet Saudi Arabia (KSA), Atkins (now AtkinsRĂ©alis, Canada), Typsa (Spain), and Setec (France). It marshalled 8,000 personnel combining 38 nationalities and 22 languages. Lines 1 and 2 went to the “BACS” consortium comprising Bechtel (USA), Almabani (KSA), Consolidated Contractors Company (Greece), and Siemens (Germany). The “ANM” consortium built Line 3. Its members are Webuild (formerly Salini Impregilo, Italy), Hitachi (Japan), Bombardier (now Alstom), Larsen & Toubro (India), Nesma & Partners (KSA), Idom (Spain), and Worley Parsons (Australia). The “RMTC” consortium of Egis (France), Parsons (USA), and Systra (France) also provided supervisory and project management services for Lines 1, 2, and 3. Signature architects designed the network’s four, iconic interchange stations after an international competition organised by RCRC. Zaha Hadid Architects (UK) designed King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) station; SnĂžhetta (Norway) designed Qasr Al Hokm station; Gerber Architekten (Germany) designed STC station; and Omrania (KSA) designed Western Station. KAFD and Qasr Al Hokm stations have won gold LEED certifications. The system’s 183 trains were manufactured by Siemens (Germany) and Alstom (with Bombardier, France) to a unified design by Avant Premiere (France). ‱ Subscribe here to get stories about construction around the world in your inbox three times a week
railway
Nov 29, 2024
Construction Starts On $1.6Bn Dallas Fort Worth Terminal F
Global Construction Review -Railway
Construction Starts On $1.6Bn Dallas Fort Worth Terminal FTerminal F was designed with an eye to the addition of extra gates in the future, and is being built using modular techniques. Elements are presently being engineered at a factory site. The project is being designed and built by the Innovation Next+, an all-American consortium made up of Archer Western Construction, Turner Construction, Phillips May Corporation, HJ Russell & Company and Carcon Industries. The consultants include Gensler, PGAL and Muller2. Sean Donohue, DFW’s chief executive, said: “Terminal F will expand the airport’s footprint with state-of-the-art facilities that align with our first-in-class customer experience and operation as we support the historic rise in air travel to and from the north Texas region.” Passengers using Terminal F will check in at Terminal E, and will move between the two using the airport’s Skylink light rail system. The project is due to open to the public in 2027. In September 2024, work began on $9bn of improvement works at DFW, including a rebuild of Terminal C and an expansion of Terminal A. DFW is the world’s third busiest airport by passenger traffic, after Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta and Dubai International.
railway
Nov 28, 2024
Deme-Led Consortium To Build €300M Terminal At German Port Of Cuxhaven
Global Construction Review -Railway
Deme-Led Consortium To Build €300M Terminal At German Port Of CuxhavenExpected to cost €300m in total, the terminal is being developed by a consortium that also includes two German firms: marine engineer Tagu and general contractor Depenbrock. It will boost Cuxhaven’s ability to handle heavy-duty loads, particularly components for wind farms. It will be operated by Niedersachsen Ports (NPorts), and will consist of berths and 1,250m of quay, as well as a storage area of 38ha. Deme will carry out dredging and land reclamation works. Lutz Dröge, area manager for Germany, said in a press statement: “Construction of the expanded terminal requires an innovative technical approach. “The project includes the installation of combi-walls and land reclamation in a dynamic estuarine environment, meeting the complex engineering requirements tailored to a heavy load terminal and demanding geotechnical conditions.” The company is expected to use two suction hopper dredgers and a backhoe dredger to reposition more than 3 million cubic metres of mud. It was announced in March that finance for the project would be provided by the federal government together with the state of Lower Saxony and private industry. Deme and its consortium partners previously delivered berths 8 and 4 at the same port. Additionally, Deme used Cuxhaven as its base during work on the Borkum Riffgrund 2 offshore wind farm. In the past, the company has also worked on deepening of the Elbe River, which flows into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, and the widening of the Kiel Canal. This project will start early next year and complete in the middle of 2028. Further reading:
railway
Nov 28, 2024
Aecom, Jacobs Hired For $7Bn Upgrade Of Vancouver’S Water System
Global Construction Review -Railway
Aecom, Jacobs Hired For $7Bn Upgrade Of Vancouver’S Water SystemBuilt in 1963, it treats 200 billion litres of wastewater a year for around 750,000 people in the Canadian city. That accounts for some 40% of wastewater treated in the Vancouver Sewerage Area. Owing to population growth, Metro Vancouver expects the number of people served to grow to 950,000 by 2051. Set to last until 2035, the upgrade is intended to improve the plant’s capacity and resilience in line with public health statutory requirements. It will boost tertiary treatment to detoxify discharges into the Salish Sea. Extensive ground improvements will protect the plant from earthquakes and rising sea levels. Iona Beach Regional Park’s sensitive ecosystems will be restored to enhance visitors’ connection to nature. The project will also improve the plant’s ability to recover water for non-potable uses and biogas. Aecom and Jacobs will provide design and project planning oversight.
railway
Nov 27, 2024
Alstom Extends Saudi Arabia Freight Railway Contract
Global Construction Review -Railway
Alstom Extends Saudi Arabia Freight Railway ContractUnder the agreement, Alstom will provide technical assistance, spare parts and training programmes for the Saudi Railway Company (SAR). Trains will be monitored in real-time through the company’s HealthHub system in an effort to optimise the availability of diesel locomotives. Mohamed Khalil, Alstom’s managing director in the Middle East, said: “By empowering SAR with cutting-edge technologies and knowledge transfer, we are fostering a competitive and sustainable sector while enriching local talent and expertise within the kingdom’s railway industry. “This collaboration will provide SAR engineers and technicians with invaluable hands-on experience.” Saudi Arabia’s east–west railway connects the Gulf ports of Dammam and Jubail with Riyadh’s dry port.
railway
Nov 27, 2024
BĂŒro Ole Scheeren Designs Hangzhou Mixed-Use Development In The Form Of A Scottish Glen
Global Construction Review -Railway
BĂŒro Ole Scheeren Designs Hangzhou Mixed-Use Development In The Form Of A Scottish GlenThe project is located close to the West Lake, a Unesco World Heritage Site. One of its end towers will have a Rosewood Hotel, and the other will contain 500,000 sq ft of office space operated by Hong Kong company K11 Atelier. The centre will contain meeting spaces, bars, restaurants and shops. A cascading green façade, inspired by the contours of Hangzhou’s natural landscape as well as the Scottish highlands, covers the volumes that make up the glen. These volumes become more intricate in the centre and in the lower storeys of the structure. Ole Scheeren said: “Instead of creating a hermetic singular volume, Urban Glen opens a highly interactive space in the middle of the city block – a space that unites living and working with nature, culture, and leisure.”
railway
Nov 27, 2024
Samsung C&T To Build $3.7Bn Power And Water Plant In Qatar
Global Construction Review -Railway
Samsung C&T To Build $3.7Bn Power And Water Plant In QatarWhen completed in 2029, the gas-fired facility will produce 2.4GW of electricity and 500,000 tonnes of potable water a day. This will meet about 16% of Qatar’s electricity and water needs. Samsung will act as the EPC contractor, a role that will be worth $2.8bn. The plant will be located in the Ras Abu Fontas area, 18km southeast of Doha. It will be operated by a consortium led by Tokyo-based Sumitomo and Shikoku Electric Power along with Korea Southern Power and Korea Overseas Infrastructure. Kahramaa has signed a 25-year purchase agreement for both the power and the water output of the plant. Sumitomo said the new plant will employ high-efficiency gas turbines that consume less gas and emit lower levels of carbon than a conventional plant.  Samsung C&T has already completed a similar desalination and power plant close to the new project.  Further reading:
railway
Nov 27, 2024
‘They’D Lose Half Their Labour’: Texas Builder Sounds Warning Over Trump Deportation Plans
Global Construction Review -Railway
‘They’D Lose Half Their Labour’: Texas Builder Sounds Warning Over Trump Deportation PlansAround 295,400 undocumented migrants worked in Texas construction in 2022, accounting for 23% of all construction workers in the state, according to a September report by the American Immigration Council. Meanwhile, nationwide, the sector is facing record vacancies amid a sustained construction boom. “It would devastate our industry, we wouldn’t finish our highways, we wouldn’t finish our schools,” Stan Marek, CEO of Marek, a Houston-based commercial and residential contractor, told NPR. “Housing would disappear. I think they’d lose half their labour,” he added. Economist Ray Perryman, president and CEO of Waco-based Perryman Group, also weighed in. “It’s not remotely practical to round up and deport everybody,” he told NPR. “And, we simply don’t have an economic structure that can sustain that. There are more undocumented people working in Texas right now than there are unemployed people in Texas.” He added: “The bottom line is if you just look across the country, our birth rates are at historic lows, our population growth is at historic lows, we just simply are not making enough people, so to speak, to sustain our economy. ” Further reading:
railway
Nov 27, 2024
Germany Is Building The World’S Tallest Wind Turbine
Global Construction Review -Railway
Germany Is Building The World’S Tallest Wind TurbineThe 365m-high turbine is under construction in the Lusatia region of northeast Germany.   Costing between €20m and €30m, it’s being financed by the Federal Agency for Disruptive Technologies (Sprind) and built in collaboration with Dresden-based engineer Gicon. The turbine uses conventionally-produced 65m blades and can be extended like a telescope to its full height, which allows it to take advantage of the tendency for wind speed to increase with altitude.  “At that height there are practically no areas any more with a lack of wind,” said Martin Chaumet, head of Sprind subsidiary Beventum. The turbine is scheduled to begin generating electricity next summer.  Gicon has been working on high-altitude wind turbines for 10 years, and earlier this month erected a 300m-tall wind measurement mast, the world’s tallest. Further reading:
railway
Nov 27, 2024