News in brief: 23 August 2006

Galliford Try, part of the GB Primary Care consortium, has seen off bids led by Morgan Sindall/Apollo and Miller to be selected as preferred bidder for the £100m South East Essex NHS LIFT scheme. Two sample primary care centres worth £11m will be constructed initially at Canvey Island and Shoeburyness.

Corus is to increase its reversing mill plate prices by £30 per tonne from 1 October 2006 due to "strong levels of demand". Corus is also raising the price of structural steel sections.

Liverpool City Council has advertised its £140m Buildings Schools for the Future programme, which will not use the PPP route. Instead, it expects to appoint three contractors for its four-year framework.

The State Hospitals Board of Scotland is inviting firms to bid for a £50m scheme to provide 19,000m2 of new therapeutic care facilities at the State Hospital in Carstairs, Lanarkshire.

The Port of Cairnryan is seeking a contractor to undertake the design and construction of a new £35m RoRo berth, including a quay wall and jetty.

A £21m design and build contract is up for grabs in the shape of a new sports village on the north-east of Stirling. The Stirling Council job includes nine sports halls and a swimming pool.

North Tyneside Council is looking for a contractor to undertake the construction of the 900-place Monkseaton community high school in Whitley Bay. The scheme is worth £16.5m.

Corby Borough Council has advertised a £15.5m project for the construction of the new Corby swimming pool development using a two-stage tender process.

Lagan Construction has seen off bids by Amec Lafarge, Colas and Fitzpatrick to win a £13m deal at Bristol International Airport to undertake runway and taxiways resurfacing and structural repairs.

The latest employment figures from the Office of National Statistics show that the number of men working in construction has shown little change. But the number of women in the sector increased 4.3% to 228,000 between March 2005 and March 2006.

The Department of Constitutional Affairs is seeking firms to pitch for a new combined court and magistrates complex in Salisbury, which will replace magistrates courts in Devizes and Trowbridge.

The European Court of First Instance will announce its verdict on the British Aggregates Association's legal challenge to the Aggregates Levy in Brussels on 13 September.

Birse Civils, part of Balfour Beatty, has been awarded an £8m contract by the Lawley Developer Group for the dualling of 1.6km of existing single-carriageway road at Lawley, near Telford, Shropshire.

The Association for Consultancy and Engineering has created an ACE Aviation and Maritime Sector Interest Group. The group, chaired by Scott Wilson director of airports and ports Alan Campbell, is designed to examine major issues and strengthen relationships with clients.

Tesco has written to residents in Gerrards Cross to tell them it is considering the Costain/Scott Wilson report into the rail tunnel collapse and discussing its recommendations with Network Rail. It hopes to make a decision on the future of the superstore project at the end of September.

Huddersfield Technical College is inviting contractors to bid for a £43m deal to demolish most of its existing buildings, construct new teaching facilities and a car park, and to refurbish a listed building.

Longley, part of Kier, has won a £7m contract to build a performing arts centre and theatre at Central Sussex College in Haywards Heath. The Hub will seat 260 people and will include two rehearsal and two dance studios.

Gladedale has lodged an outline planning application for a £500m mixed-use development scheme of office, residential and retail space in Leeds city centre.

Corus is to build a rail welding facility at its Scunthorpe steelworks. It will form part of a new rail service centre now under construction and will replace welding facilities at its Workington and Castleton sites.

North Tyneside Council has advertised a £16.5m contract to construct the new 900-place Monkseaton Community High School for 13- to 18-year-olds.

Norwest Holst has secured a £7m contract to design and construct a two-storey office building at Gloucester Business Park for Troika Developments.

[Contract Journal, 23 August 2006, p. 1, 3, 4]