A planning application for the proposed Carrington relief road has been submitted to Trafford Council, following a six-week public consultation. The council’s planning and development committee is expected to approve the scheme, which is designed to unlock development in the Carrington area. The 2.7-mile road will run from north Partington to the existing Carrington Spur near Ashton on Mersey . The scheme will feature six new signal-controlled junctions and three wildlife

Hercules, the AIM-listed construction labour subcontractor, has been included on Balfour Beatty’s preferred supplier list for power transmission and distribution projects. The company, which has a long-standing relationship with Balfour Beatty providing general construction labour, will now expand its role to support the electricity sector, offering specialist labour for substations, cabling, and civils work . Hercules’ growth in the power and energy sector began with its Jun

A new branch of the London Overground could be one step closer after Mayor Sadiq Khan announced funding to progress the scheme. The proposed West London Orbital would connect Hounslow and Hendon via Old Oak Common , potentially becoming the seventh branch of the Overground network. The mayor confirmed that his 2026/27 budget includes £400,000 to develop the business case for the project, which is one of three major transport initiatives he hopes to deliver in the coming ye

Connect over a cuppa and check in on those around you – that was the message as Network Rail staff backed Samaritans’ Brew Monday. Colleagues volunteered at stations along the East Coast Main Line, handing out teabags and chatting with passengers about the power of staying connected. The Brew Monday campaign encourages friends, family, colleagues and communities to take time out together – whether in person or virtually – and turn small moments of conversation into meaningful

Herefordshire Council has confirmed that M Group Highways has been selected as the preferred provider to deliver the county’s new Public Realm Services contract starting in June this year.   Under the new contract, the Council will take back day-to-day control of public realm services, with the provider delivering work at pre-agreed rates.   The contract covers essential services that residents rely on, including highway maintenance, highway drainage, street lighting and stre

The Clifton Suspension Bridge was closed to traffic last night as filming for a BBC drama took place. The closure, which began at 7.30pm, lasted until 1am. According to the 'What's Filming in Bristol' X account (formerly Twitter), a scene for the long-running series Casualty was filmed during the closure. A diversion was put in place for all traffic, directing drivers along Bridge Valley Road, Brunel Way, and the A369 Rownham Hill . The bridge’s official Facebook page confir

Demand for water in the UK is at record levels, and the gap between supply and demand is widening. In England alone, public water supplies could fall short by 5 billion litres per day by 2055, creating potential environmental pressures and higher costs for consumers. To tackle this challenge, Ofwat has launched the Water Efficiency Lab , a £25 million, challenge-led competition designed to identify and scale innovations that help reduce water use across England and Wales. Fo

It has been confirmed that Goldman Sachs’ acquisition of Mace’s consultancy business will include ownership of the Mace brand name, prompting a rebrand of the group’s remaining construction contracting operation. Six months after announcing the sale of its consultancy arm to the US investment bank, Mace Group has disclosed that its construction business will adopt a new name once the transaction completes. The new identity is expected to be unveiled later this year. In the i

Kay Slade has been appointed managing director of UK Regional Civils at Balfour Beatty, effective February 2026. She succeeds Mark Arrandale, who has held the role on an interim basis since October 2025 and will revert to his position as finance director at the end of the month. A qualified solicitor, Slade joined Balfour Beatty in April 2022 as managing counsel. Two years later, she was appointed northwest area director for the Regional Civils business. In that role, she is

Absolute Intelligence UK Ltd has announced the launch of Helen, the UK’s first conversational voice AI agent designed to revolutionise how water utilities engage with customers. The company says that for the first time, voice-based artificial intelligence can seamlessly take over real-time customer service and call centre activities traditionally handled by human agents. Helen supports Meter Reading, Debt Collection , and General Customer Support for customers. Leveraging ad

Construction works on HS2’s longest tunnel have been completed – marking an important civil engineering milestone for the new high-speed railway.   HS2 Ltd said that close of work at two of the line’s Chiltern tunnel vent shafts at Chesham Road and Little Missenden brings to an end a project that began almost five years ago. Once fitted out with tracks and overhead electrical equipment as part of later phases of the project, the tunnel will carry trains travelling at 200mph,

Hampshire County Council is preparing to submit plans for a controversial “lane rental scheme” to the Department for Transport (DfT), which would see operators charged for road closures on some of the county’s busiest routes. If approved, the scheme could generate around £2.8 million annually, based on roadworks data from the past three years. It would apply to roughly 500 streets across 750 kilometres—about eight per cent of Hampshire’s total road network. Daily charges unde

A recent study has found that tampered e-bikes are now viewed as a bigger threat to cyclists than motor vehicles on UK roads. Research by Cycleplan surveyed 500 regular cyclists and revealed that around eight per cent consider illegally modified e-bikes the greatest risk to their safety—surpassing concerns about cars, buses, or lorries. Just a few years ago, the majority of cyclists cited motor traffic as their main danger, but attitudes appear to be shifting. The study also

Highways officials are examining a long-delayed project designed to prevent tall vehicles from striking a low rail bridge on the A5 Watling Street near Hinckley, often described as “Britain’s most bashed bridge.” Originally, the road-lowering work was scheduled for March 2024, but construction has yet to begin. National Highways has said a technical review of the scheme will take place in the coming weeks, with hopes that work could start later this year. However, local counc

National Highways has confirmed that the M27 resurfacing project is now entering its final phase. Work on the westbound carriageway is nearly finished, with all traffic now running over the new low-noise asphalt. The previous contraflow has been removed, allowing three lanes to reopen on the westbound approach to junctions 7, 5, and 4. Crews are currently dismantling hardened crossover sections that were used earlier in the scheme. Richard Scrase, programme delivery manager a

Average speed cameras have been credited with a “dramatic and sustained” reduction in fatal and serious collisions on one of Devon and Cornwall’s most hazardous roads. Data collected over a ten-year period shows that the stretch of the A38 between Dobwalls and Bodmin saw a 45% fall in serious collisions following the introduction of the cameras. In the five years before their installation in 2020, there were 22 fatal or serious incidents. That number fell to 12 in the five ye