Mike Blackburn’s Post

Essential tip about SDG&E powerline clearances to cut costs on your construction projects #homeimprovement #propertymanagement #renovation #realestate

Long gone are the days when project delivery was all about delivering to the lowest price.   Today our emphasis is on how we can reduce our environmental impact, protect biodiversity and add value to the local community. This and much more were some of the topics I discussed with Gavin from New Civil Engineer when we met earlier this year.   Gavin Pearson it was great to catch-up.   #Sustianbility #Socialvalue #Biodiversity #MakingPossible https://lnkd.in/eKx-Ar-Y

“With moves to greater collaborative working and a greater emphasis on wellbeing and sustainability, he feels the industry is mature enough to make that decision. The expanding complexity and scale of projects in sectors like energy and water, mean more emphasis will be put on the right work, not the cheapest.” Excellent post and article. We need to continue to push for this mature approach across our industry.

Environmental And Other Factors Affecting Work On Port Harcourt-Enugu, Aba -Port Harcourt Road- Fashola The Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN said what was delaying the completion of the Port Harcourt- Enugu, Aba-Port Harcourt highway were environmental and other factors. Fashola stated this in Port Harcourt Rivers State during an inspection of the Port Harcourt - Enugu section of the highway. He said: "We must first remember that if you do not have water, you cannot be a Port City. Essentially, we are building on water. It is a very challenging environment for infrastructure, " he explained. He appealed to the host communities to be patient with the Federal Government and show cooperation as Government was committed to providing bigger, better, wider and safer road for them. "As you can see, our plan is to deliver eight lanes from what was four lanes since we intend to make our experience better this rainy season than last year." He added that though the work would not finish this year,Government intended to finish the four lanes, divide the four lanes into two; an incoming and out ward bound traffic that would facilitate free flow of traffic. According to the minister, that would serve as a form of relief to commuters and other road users as nine Kilometres of the road from Eleme junction is in between Port Harcourt urban and metropolitan. "It is another challenge as it is already a built up area, " he said. Speaking on why the road construction was delayed, Fashola stated, " A lot of sand filling is going on here, the road is dug well over two metres and we have to remove the bad soil and replace it with good soil and this accounts for a lot of dredging work going on here." He also explained that part of the road was passing through already built area, some buildings had to go as well as relocation of power lines. "These are the challenges and the reasons this road is taking time to be built." Fashola further said that our experience this year would be better than last year. But he quickly called for the cooperation of commuters, communities, Local and State Governments to fast track the construction of the road. "We expect people to cooperate with us.We expect people not to park vehicles on the construction sections because you obstruct traffic. Our highways are not parking lots" He directed that any vehicle parked on any part of the construction sections of the highway should be impounded.

Did you know that EVERY construction project started in the Province of Ontario requires the owner (or owner’s representative) to prepare (or have prepared) a list of designated substances that may be present on the site prior to the start of the project. This requirement does not differentiate between older and newer buildings, so even if your building was built in 2010, the requirement to prepare list of designated substances still exists. This is so important, we wrote a guideline on it. You can find that guideline here:  https://lnkd.in/g7b96kga

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is receiving $32 million from the Federal Highway Administration’s Low Carbon Transportation Materials grant. This funding will support the use of low-emission construction materials like cement, concrete, and asphalt, driving innovation and sustainability in infrastructure projects.

🚧 The Essential Services Clause: Key Takeaways from Georges River Council v Eskander 🚧 The Land and Environment Court recently revisited the Essential Services Clause in Georges River Council v Eskander, providing important clarification on when and how councils must consider essential services before granting development consent. So, what does this mean? ✅ Councils must assess the availability of essential services - such as water, sewer, and electricity -before granting consent, ensuring developments are properly serviced. ✅ Developers should be proactive in demonstrating how essential services will be provided, reducing the risk of refusal or delays in approvals. ✅ The Court’s decision reinforces that service availability is a threshold issue, not just a post-approval condition to be resolved later. This case highlights the ongoing tension between practical infrastructure constraints and planning approvals, making it essential for all parties to carefully consider essential service obligations early in the development process. For a deeper dive into the case, read the full article on The Development Site. What are your thoughts on how essential services should be assessed in the planning process? Let’s discuss! 👇 #PlanningLaw #UrbanLegal #NSWPlanning #DevelopmentConsent #EssentialServices #LandAndEnvironmentCourt

"Bosses from scores of locally-headquartered building firms (their collective annual turnover is £2.8 billion) have been giving their views to the Construction Employers Federation (CEF) annual survey. And topping the industry’s priority list for 2025 is for the Stormont Executive to deal with the decades of underfunding of the region’s water and wastewater system." The Irish News

NI Construction sector needs immediate Water infrastructure support from Northern Ireland Assembly to ensure homes can be delivered from 2025 and beyond. Good overview from Mark Spence on below link

"Permitting reform may seem like an arcane policy matter, but our prosperity depends on it." CGCN Group CEO Michael Catanzaro details both why the current permitting infrastructure doesn't work, and how lawmakers must look at a building a new approach from the ground up in his new piece for The New Atlantis: "The permitting process must be rebuilt from scratch. To start, policymakers must fundamentally rethink how to approach the issue. The root of the problem is the conceptual and practical conflation of permitting and compliance. Whereas permitting is about authorization to build or do something, compliance is about the legal obligation to abide by all the relevant laws and regulations. Permitting says, “Yes, you may,” whereas compliance says, “You must follow the rules.” Read More Here: https://lnkd.in/eriGfuvS