WET News

2 WET NEWS DECEMBER 2014 COMMENT "Its insane to lock these vital infrastructures into cyclical investment periods" NEWS+ DECEMBER £14B The cost of constructing a canal to move water from the North down to the South-east to overcome water shortages. AECOM consultant David Weight wants consultants to back the Natural Water Grid. "This sale [Parson Brinckerhoff] represents a significant return on Balfour Beatty's investment... Balfour Beatty is now a simpler, stronger and more focused business..." Steve Marshall, chairman More than 90% of Costain's order book comprises repeat business. The group adds that the order book has secured £900M of revenue for 2015, 29% up on 2013. 29% 90% IN A NUTSHELL "Hector the bloodhound has been trained to detect blockages on Southern Water's 25,000-mile network of sewers" @in_kent £100M Bristol Water's proposed £100M-plus second reservoir at Cheddar has been granted full planning permission, complete with 40 conditions. The scheme must start no later than seven years time. £43bn The amount of money that is expected to be spent over the – ve-year AMP6 cycle Paul Horton is the new CEO of the Society of British Water & Wastewater Industries. Previously with CIWEM, Horton brings a wealth of experience from the water and environment sector to his new role. "... Aquatech Engineering strengthens our technical and professional services in the water sector, enabling Amey to further leverage our end to end capability across the utilities market" Mel Ewell, chief executive, Amey. £70M The amount spent in 2013- 14 by the water – rms to clear 300,000-plus sewer blockages in England and Wales, says CCWater. A s TV character Victor Merdrew would say – "I don't believe it!" The Highways Agency is to introduce a • ve-yearly invest- ment cycle from next year. What's that got to do with the water sector? It's quite simple – quite a few contractors that serve the water industry also work on the highways. This means those contrac- tors will have not one but two • ve-yearly investment cycles to contend with. And in the same year – 2015 Whose bright idea was that? And let's not forget the General Election, also next year, and the e‹ ect that has on the country every • ve years. It's insane to lock these two pieces of vital infrastructure into cyclical investment periods. Just think of the impact as contractors and suppliers embark on the costly and time-consuming process of tendering for much sought aŽ er water and highways contracts and frameworks at the same time. Then there is the sta' ng. The water industry's supply chain has seen the negative impact on employees caused by the boom and bust aspect of the AMP cycle. Will the highways industry endure the same? If the highways sector had to have a • ve-yearly investment cycle, would it not have been better to stagger it with that of the water industry's? A lot of work has gone into trying to lessen the impact of the cyclical AMP this time round, and I would hope that the lessons learned will have been taken on board by the Highways Agency. But maybe the best thing that contractors can do is concentrate on long-term planning. AŽ er all, the water compa- nies may have to produce their business plans every • ve years but why should that impact on the industry's supply chain? Step-changing the indus- try's buzzwords Have you noticed that "step- change" is the new industy buz- zword? It seems to have superceded 'totex'. At the beginning of AMP5 it was innovation. But the advent of AMP6 has got consultants, contractors and suppliers alike talking about step-change. This is because there is a feeling that AMP6 is going to be di‹ erent to previous AMP cycles, which is great to see. Ofwat is to blame for this as it quite rightly has got the water companies to focus on the needs of their customers. This in turn has got the supply chain thinking its customers and the end-users. The introduction of totex for AMP6 has also had a bene• cial impact. However, let's not forget those other industry buzzwords – collabo- ration and innovation – be- cause without them there will be no step-change. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! Finally, myself and the rest of the WET News team would like to wish all our readers and advertisers a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. See you in 2015! S kanska has teamed up with Loughborough Uni- versity to collaborate on developing the use of 3D print- ing in construction. The aim of the agreement is to allow Skan- ska to use – under licence – 3D concrete printing technology developed through research at Loughborough University, ap- plying it to real applications. A team in the School of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough, led by Dr Rich- ard Buswell and Professor Simon Austin, have worked on the development of 3D printing technology for the construction industry since 2007. The project was started under the Engineer- ing and Physical Sciences Research Council's (EPSRC) Innovative Manufacturing and Construction Research Centre (IMCRC). The team have devel- oped 3D concrete printers • tted to a gantry and a robotic arm, which is now in its second-gen- eration form. The printer deposits a high– performance concrete precisely under computer control. It works by laying down succes- sive layers of concrete until the entire object is created. The ¨ Engineering – rm Skanska helps explore opportunities to help develop a 3D printing supply chain. Skanska collaborates on 3D concrete printing printer can make things which cannot be manufactured by con- ventional processes such as complex structural compo- nents, curved cladding panels and architectural features. The aim of the initial 18-month development pro- gramme is to develop the world's • rst commercial con- crete printing robot. Working with Skanska are a number of inª uential collaborators includ- ing Foster + Partners, Buchan Concrete, ABB and Lafarge Tar- mac. As a result of this pro- gramme, Skanska aims to explore opportunities opened up by the new technology and help develop a 3D printing sup- ply chain. Rob Francis, Skanska's direc- tor of Innovation and Business Improvement, said: "3D con- crete printing, when combined with a type of mobile prefabrica- tion centre, has the potential to reduce the time needed to create complex elements of buildings from weeks to hours. We expect to achieve a level of quality and e' ciency which has never been seen before in construction." Dr Richard Buswell, from the Building Energy Research Group at Loughborough University, said: "The modern construction industry is becoming more and more demanding in terms of design and construction. We have reached a point where new developments in construction manufacturing are required to meet the new challenges and our research has sought to respond to that challenge." "3D concrete printing, when combined with a type of mobile prefabrication centre, has the potential to reduce the time needed to create complex elements of buildings from weeks to hours. We expect to achieve a level of quality and eš ciency which has never been seen before in construction." Rob Francis, Skanska www.teekaycouplings.com tel: +44 (0)1494 679500

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