Martin Gallagher’s Post

“Bridges to the Future” was the guiding vision for the design of the Port Lands Bridges by #sbp, Grimshaw and Entuitive. The family of four new multimodal #bridges opened to the public earlier this year and are central to the revitalization of 500 acres of once-underutilized land overseen by Waterfront Toronto. Using the principle of a tied arch made of double-curved steel plates was a key element of this innovative concept – thus, not only maximizing material #efficiency and reducing costs, but also overcoming key challenges such as foundation constraints due to challenging soil conditions. Learn more in the online article by sbp Managing Director Michael Stein, P.E. and sbp Project Manager Matthias Peltz, P.E. in the magazine of the American Society of Civil Engineers!

#Surveying: Why surveyors should take lead on retrofit work https://buff.ly/3AZhJ5L by RICS Building surveyors can take the comprehensive view necessary to the complexity of residential retrofitting – but must be fully trained and engaged if they are to contribute effectively. #Geospatial #Construction #CivilEngineering #ConstructionSurvey #UK #Sustainability #Housing

Mass timber is seeing growing interest as a low carbon construction solution. Timber is also renewable, light, quick to build with and looks great. What’s not to like? Well innovation often moves faster than guidance can keep pace with. And this is the case for fire safety design of mass timber buildings in many countries today. We’re delighted to share our risk-based guide to help fire safety engineers, approving authorities, developers and other stakeholders exploring the use of mass timber. It focuses on low- and mid-rise, where the demand and potential for mass timber is greatest. It should serve as a useful entry point for design, particularly in countries where guidance is lacking. The guide draws on decades of Arup involvement in research and design on fire safety engineering for mass timber structures globally. This expertise has been used to inform the development of many landmark projects such as Haut in Amsterdam, the Sky Believe in Better Building in the UK, and the Galkangu Bendigo GovHub building in Australia. It’s available to download here: Arup’s Fire Safe Design of Mass Timber Global Guidance https://lnkd.in/da83mbjR And get in touch if you’d like to discuss the guide or a project. #WeAreArup #FireSafety #Excellence #Mass timber

**NCE Roundup: Structural Steel Construction Updates** Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) are addressing the UK housing shortage, with light-gauge steel playing a key role. BCSA - British Constructional Steelwork Association has introduced the National Light-Gauge Steelwork Specification (NLSS) to ensure high standards for cold-formed, galvanized light steel in modular construction. CEO Jonathan Clemens notes the #NLSS aligns with the Building Safety Act to guarantee quality and safety. William Hare Group reported strong financial results for 2023, with turnover reaching £315.5M, up significantly from 2022. EBITDA rose to £9.8M from £3.4M, driven by a resurgence in international markets. CEO Sue Hodgkiss CBE highlighted strong UK performance and market resilience, positioning #WilliamHare for its 80th anniversary in 2024. #BCSA President Gary Simmons discussed the work-life balance debate, noting a divide between firms like Amazon advocating for office returns and the UK Government promoting flexible work under the Employment Rights Bill. Simmons favors a hybrid model that balances senior staff flexibility with mentoring for junior employees, urging the government to avoid over-legislation. Severfield is building the world’s largest monopile factory for SeAH Wind at the former Redcar steelworks as part of Teesworks' £450M redevelopment. The facility will use 35,000t of British Steel to produce up to 200 monopiles annually for offshore wind turbines. Local training programs will create 750 direct jobs and 1,500 supply chain roles, highlighting Teesside's steel industry revival. In London’s West End, Derwent London’s Network W1 project is a nine-storey office targeting a BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ rating. Designed by Piercy & Company and constructed by Kier Group it features 12,449m² of workspace with 1,000t of recycled steel from Bourne Steel . The building’s low-energy systems, rain gardens, and blue roofs aim to reduce its carbon footprint, setting a new benchmark for sustainable commercial buildings in London, with completion expected in 2025. **Final Thoughts:** These updates showcase the UK construction industry’s adaptability as it tackles key challenges like sustainability and economic recovery. From innovative material use to evolving workplace strategies, the industry is advancing rapidly. The collaboration between policymakers, industry leaders, and local communities will be vital in shaping a resilient and sustainable future. #womanofsteel

What If Canada Became the 51st U.S. State? Implications for Offsite and Modular Construction https://lnkd.in/eaghwek4 I find the idea of Canada becoming the 51st state of the United States as bold and provocative. While this concept remains speculative, it opens a fascinating window into the potential implications for the offsite and modular construction industries. #modular #Canada #construction #statehood Sabrina Fiorellino Kathy Hogeveen Craig Landri Bill Murray Stan Newman Barry Z. Rory Rubin, Modular BUILDING Solutions Helena Lidelöw Victor DePhillips Jim Gabriel

https://lnkd.in/edabKFku Brilliant to see Ireland estimated to be at the top of 19 European countries in completion of new houses for 2024. We are estimated to have 36,000 new houses completed by the end of the year and on course for 41,000 in 2025. Non residential and Civil construction output also growing by an estimated 3.9% on last year.

Tom Reader and Andrew Fireman are leading the employee-owned engineering consultancy’s debut office in the North West. Ardent Consulting Engineers advises on infrastructure design, flood risk, sustainability, acoustics, air quality, energy, and transport planning. The company boasts approximately 100 employees across its eight offices in London, Ipswich, Billericay, Bristol, Nottingham, Kent, Edinburgh, and now #Manchester. Read more on Place North West

Ontario’s construction industry is booming, showing robust growth in both the residential and commercial sectors. The heavy machinery required to complete these projects produces noise and vibration that can damage nearby buildings/underground structures and cause noise complaints. Our acoustic team completes baseline measurements pre-construction and measures the amplitude, frequency and duration of vibration while construction is underway. Our acoustic tools will provide alerts that monitor the impact of construction equipment to ensure due diligence and compliance is maintained, noise complaints are avoided, and projects are executed without delays!   For more information, please reach out to Michael Szudy from our Emissions Reduction & Compliance (ERC) team!   #ConstructionNoiseandVibrationMonitoring #AcousticServices #LanduseDevelopment #EnvironmentalCompliance #Pinchin #WorkingTogetherMakingThingsBetter

Arup launches global guide on #building safely with timber It draws Arup’s decades-long experience designing mass timber structures like broadcaster Sky’s “Believe in Better” building in London Arup has published a global guide on how to build fire-safe mass timber structures to encourage more use of the low-carbon alternative to concrete and steel. The consultancy said it sets out an evidence-based approach to plug gaps in local country building regulations. While the #US, #Canada, #Australia, and some #European countries have mature regulatory frameworks, many other countries don’t, it said. The guide tackles topics like using timber in external walls and specific fire hazards for different building components. It’s intended for fire safety engineers, structural engineers, architects, developers, local authorities, insurance companies, property owners, and project managers. Arup said the guide draws on decades of its experience designing mass timber structures like broadcaster Sky’s “Believe in Better” building in London, the UK’s tallest timber commercial building, and the Galkangu Bendigo GovHub building in Australia. Tested by fire The company has also conducted some of the biggest timber fire safety experiments in the world. Inside the “Believe in Better” building, the UK’s tallest timber commercial building (Courtesy of Arup) Its Code Red research project in France saw a series of full-scale fire experiments in a 380-sq-m structure with exposed mass timber elements. The test structure had built-in sensors measuring temperatures and heat flux. Up to 50m tall The guide addresses building typologies where mass timber has the greatest potential, which Arup said were office and residential buildings up to 50m tall and educational buildings up to 25m tall. Judith Schulz, fire safety engineering lead, Arup said: “As well as gaps in codes and regulations, there is also a lack of knowledge amongst much of the design and construction community when it comes to designing fire-safe timber buildings. “This means the opportunities for more sustainable construction are not currently being realised. We hope this guide will contribute to accelerating a move away from carbon-intensive materials and contribute to a growth in fire safe mass timber buildings, which offer great promise for reducing CO2 in low- to medium-rise buildings.” https://lnkd.in/eCD9xrat

Mandatory climate reporting for large Australian construction companies from 1 January 2025 New financial disclosures relating to climate impacts will soon need to be made by large Australian companies from 1 January 2025. Large and medium-sized construction companies will be affected in a rolling scheme which will be in full force by 2028. Find out if your company is affected and what steps you should take before the new year. Cladding remains a significant challenge in 2025 While progress has been made this year, particularly in Victoria, cladding continues to remain a significant issue for the Australian construction industry in 2025. Cladding Safety Victoria’s report in July 2024 found that key professionals, such as architects, draftspersons, fire safety engineers, and building surveyors were responsible for the widespread misapplication of combustible cladding.     https://lnkd.in/gtQpPsMv   Australia GDP has weaken - https://lnkd.in/gCjpffCp   Australia S&P and ASX 200 – WE December 13, 2024 - https://lnkd.in/gnGqt-Uf