As always, the UK continues to lead the way in delivery major construction projects and currently pioneering builds are taking place across the UK that will not only create tens of thousands of construction jobs but leave a skills legacy that supports the UK construction industry for decades to come and ultimately improve millions of lives.
Hinkley Point C
With all but one of the 16 nuclear reactors in the UK that generate around a sixth of the electricity we need at risk of being retired by 2030, Hinkley Point C nuclear power station (HPC) is the start of the government’s ambitious plans to replace them with new EPR reactors.
In total, a new generation of eight nuclear reactors will be constructed, at sites across the UK, each with enhanced safety features and a promise that they are more efficient and will produce less long-lived radioactive waste.
HPC is a project to construct a 3,200 MWe nuclear power station with two EPR reactors in Somerset, that will produce power for five million UK homes and which has a projected lifetime of sixty years and an estimated cost of £22.9 billion.
The building of the reactors is a significant multi-billion pound project and is generating thousands of construction industry jobs, approximately 6,000, including roles for labourers, supervisors, managers, plant operatives, steel fixers, civil engineering operatives and scaffolders.
In addition, there are several other major developments on and around the site including the building of a sea wall, public information centre, two turbine halls, fuel and waste management facilities and the cooling water and electricity transmission infrastructures.
The site is also leading the way in developing initiatives, training programmes and apprenticeships to produce the skilled construction workers that are required for this and future projects.
Crossrail
The Crossrail project is currently Europe’s largest infrastructure project and among the most significant infrastructure projects ever undertaken in the UK.
The new railway, the Elizabeth line, will be fully integrated with London’s existing transport network and will stretch more than 60 miles from Reading and Heathrow in the west through 42km of new tunnels under London across to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.
An estimated 200 million passengers will use Crossrail annually and there will be new stations at Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, Custom House, Woolwich and Abbey Wood.
The goal is to improve journey times across London, offer better connections, ease congestion and increase London’s rail capacity by 10% – the largest increase since the Second World War.
Nearly 70 million working hours have been completed on the Crossrail project so far and it has employed over 10,000 people across London and the South East at more than 40 worksites.
For the construction industry Crossrail has been used as a means to successfully create 450 apprenticeships, surpassing an original target of 400 and attract new entrants into the industry.It’s about leaving a lasting skills legacy for the construction industry and the creation of a Tunnel and Underground Construction Academy (TUCA) has made sure that the skills the industry needs for future tunnelling projects is met.
Thames Tideway Tunnel
The Thames Tideway Tunnel is a major new sewer being built to help tackle the increasing pollution of the River Thames from the 39 million tonnes of untreated sewage that overflows into the river each year from London’s Victorian sewerage system.
The construction of the £4.2 billion tunnel is taking place 24 hours a day, at 24 sites across the capital and will broadly follow the River Thames for 25km and will be up to 70 metres below ground.
The deepest and longest tunnel ever constructed in London it will have a diameter of 7.2 metres and a width that will fit three London buses side by side.
To drive skills development all Thames Tideway Tunnel all contractors are required to employ at least one apprentice for every 50 of their site employees and the project is expected to generate approximately 9,350 jobs including 4,250 in the construction industry alone.