NEWSBRIEF

Tube consortium faces £1m fine

Tube Lines - the consortium that won the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines deep level infrastructure concession for London Underground - could be fined up to £1m this week. The consortium, made up of Amey, Bechtel and Jarvis, faces the huge financial penalty if upgrade work on its Northern Line franchise is delayed. However, if it finishes the work before this week's deadline it could be in for a £500,000 bonus. As part of its contract, penalties and rewards are designed to avert a repetition of the fiasco of the Jubilee Line extension, which was delayed by 18 months and went £1.4bn over budget.

heading for another train crash

Gerald Corbett, the former chief executive of Railtrack, has bitten the hand that fed him. In an interview in The Sunday Times, Corbett said the rail industry was riven with vested interests that would not be overcome without another major accident. He said: "I'm afraid there will be another train crash and then it will become an absolute political imperative to do something."

fast work by mouchel

Mouchel has picked up a third contract with Medway Council in Kent. It is for a study into the feasibility, practicality and impact of a new rapid transit system to serve town centres, regeneration areas and tourism sites in the Medway towns. Mouchel is already developing proposals for a £15m improvement of the A228 between Strood and the Isle of Grain, and has been advising on highway proposals through the Hoo Peninsular to Thamesport.

drug abuse danger alert

Drugs are construction firms' worst enemy, according to Graham Grundon, Miller Civil Engineering Services' (MCES) managing director. "Although taken the night before, substances can still impair your actions the following day and can remain in the system for days and weeks," he said. "If an employee operating a 100t crane abuses drugs, that person is not only endangering their own life but the lives of everyone else." MCES routinely carries out random drug tests on its project teams and first began testing in 1998.

Golden opportunity for ramesys

IT solution provider Ramesys has become the first company in the UK to earn Microsoft's Gold Partner status in collaborative solutions. Ramesys already holds Gold Partner status in enterprise systems, making it the only firm in Europe - and only the second in the world - to hold two gold awards. The awards mean Ramesys has been examined and audited by Microsoft.

Myers freed to focus on construction

Chief inspector of construction Kevin Myers has been given extra freedom by the Health & Safety Commission (HSC) to devote all his time to reducing fatalities and injuries in the industry. Responsibilities for Myers, chair of the HSC's Construction Industry Advisory Committee, include: bringing together all Health & Safety Executive activities dedicated to improving health and safety in the industry; getting the strategic direction of the construction priority programme right; and overseeing the change of culture required to secure health and safety targets.

ciria urges firms to match overseas best

The UK construction industry must follow international best practice or lose work both at home and abroad, the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) has warned. "We are past the point of paying lip service to international best practice. We must match it or die," said CIRIA. It has launched More for less - a contractor's guide to improving productivity.