The Civil Engineering Contractor September 2018 | Page 14

WORLD NEWS
era in the UK’s global trading relationships”. It was also
welcomed by major players in the construction industry,
including Turner & Townsend, a global consultancy firm
specialising in the sector.
The expansion will be the UK’s largest privately
funded construction project, generating thousands of
jobs and business opportunities nationwide, boosting
passenger and cargo capacity, and forging new links
around the world.
The CBI says the project has the potential to shake up
and benefit the UK construction industry more widely.
It is seen as an opportunity to challenge the way
infrastructure has been delivered in the past and
to forge a new sustainable industry model — one
which provides a legacy of new skills in digital,
manufacturing, and off-site assembly, with expertise
formed throughout the construction supply chain, and
shows that the UK is a world leader in setting up and
delivering major projects.
“It will act as a beacon for attracting and retaining
talent in the sector at a time when we face an acute skills
crisis,” says the CBI.
Other options for expanding London’s airport
capacity, which have been rejected, include a second
runway at Gatwick Airport and a new airport on the
Thames Estuary, a project dubbed Boris Island after
being championed by the former foreign secretary.
UK MPs have overwhelmingly backed a long-standing
proposal to expand London’s Heathrow Airport. The
debate on expanding Heathrow has been going on
for nearly 20 years, been subject to controversy, and
shelved numerous times over the past two decades.
Now, the building of a third runway will unlock
100 000 jobs and inject economic growth to a limping
economy, according to its proponents.
Former British foreign secretary Boris Johnson, who
is MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip in west London,
has vowed to “lie down in front of bulldozers” to prevent
it. Campaigners argue that a new runway will breach
the UK’s legal limits on air pollution and increase noise
pollution with an extra 700 planes a day.
In addition, hundreds of homes will have to be
knocked down to build the runway, and nearby areas
will suffer disruptions. Up to GBP2.6-billion would
be available to pay in compensation to affected local
people, including for noise insulation, and the third
runway would be granted planning consent only if it
met the UK’s air-quality commitments.
The new runway, which could be completed by 2026,
would be privately funded, although critics claim it could
lead to up to GBP15-billion in extra taxpayer-funded
transport costs. According to Global Construction, the
Confederation of British Industry hailed the vote as “a
truly historic decision that will open the doors to a new
‘Big country’ Argentina has massive need for roads.
Argentina’s transportation ministry in June awarded
five different groups of companies contracts to carry out
six major roadbuilding projects across the country, worth
approximately USD6-billion. The four-year plan is the first
of many infrastructure-focused public-private partnerships
enacted by what is a free-market-friendly government.
Argentina’s Helport SA and Spain’s Obras y Servicios
Copasa secured contracts for two of the six developments
for highways from Buenos Aires to Santa Fe, and from
Santa Fe to Cordoba, totalling approximately 900km.
China Construction America and Argentina’s Green SA
12 - CEC September 2018
are also working on a 614km highway into the capital city
from La Pampa. Also among the contractors is Mota Engil,
a Portuguese firm that will be working in tandem with
other Argentine companies.
Argentina has agreed to reduce public spending after
securing a financial settlement of USD50-billion with
the International Monetary Fund, and PPP programmes
have been identified as one means of cutting spending.
According to Reuters, a second wave of PPP announcements
is expected, concentrating on areas such as rail and energy,
thought to be worth up to USD26.5-billion.