A hydroelectric plant to be the most powerful in Europe is under construction in Ukraine.The Dniester PSPS plant will consist of 7 hydraulic units which will give a capacity of 2268 MW, making it the 6^th largest plant of its kind in the world. The total value of the project is not available; the government has revealed that construction of the number four hydraulic unit is set to cost around €223 million.

The Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, spoke about its importance to industry in the country, with 80% of the equipment to be used coming from Ukrainian manufacturers. He gave transformer equipment, metal structures and cable products as examples and highlighted the manufacturers Turboatom and Elektrovazhmash. Mr. Shmyhal added that some 1,000 construction workers would be employed on the project, in addition to well over 400 who would be employed at the plant when it is commissioned.

Australia’s Macquarie Group, South Korean civil engineering company SK Ecoplant and Italy’s Webuild got into a joint venture, known collectively as Sotra Link consortium has won a £1.65bn contract to finance, design, build and operate a 9.4 km, 4 lane road link in Norway.

It is the largest single contract ever awarded by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration and includes the construction of a 900m long suspension bridge and 12.5 km of tunnels. Sotra Link will operate and maintain the link for 25 years after it opens to traffic in 2027.

The bridge will be 30 m wide and 900 m long and towers 114 m high. The project also includes a total of 12.5 km of tunnels, 19 road and pedestrian underpasses, 23 tunnel portals, 22 bridges and viaducts and 14 km of pedestrian and bicycle path.

NPRA’s construction director Kjell Inge Davik said: “Sotra Link has delivered a very competitive bid for the Sotra connection-contract and takes on considerable responsibility and risk for the project to be carried out at the agreed time and price. “The companies behind Sotra Link have extensive experience with implementing PPP contracts and extensive experience with the construction of suspension bridges and tunnels. We look forward to a close collaboration with Sotra Link for many years to come.”

Aecom Australia had been selected in a competitive tender process to work on the proposed 11 km tunnel, a central component of the Great Western Highway upgrade between Katoomba and Lithgow said Deputy premier and minister for regional NSW John Barilaro. “This project will transform journeys between the Central West and the East Coast, delivering a safe and more efficient journey for locals, truckies and tourists,” said Barilaro.

“Aecom Australia will now need to ensure that the project includes appropriate measures to protect the Blue Mountains’ natural heritage,” said Paul Toole, Minister for regional transport and roads. “This critical work will focus on continuing the detailed environmental investigations to confirm the feasibility of a tunnel in this location, and will provide the basis for the environmental impact statement, due for extensive community consultation next year,” he added.

Construction of the tunnel is due to begin in 2024 and is set to be Australia’s longest road tunnel.

Japanese firm Mori Building Co. has started working on a real estate development project worth approx. JPY 580 billion (US$5.4 billion). The project site is near the Roppongi district in central Tokyo. It is named Toranomon-Azabudai project and considering its expanse and scale aims to create a city within a city. It will be home to three high-rise towers which are estimated to cater around 20,000 office workers. It will also have a residential arrangement which will house another 3,500 people.

The idea of this humungous project is to offer a congenial environment in the heart of Tokyo to overseas expats so that they could work, live and learn. One of the three towers will have 64 floors and is set to become the country’s tallest building standing at 330 m. It will also have a luxury hotel brand debuting in the country, a large scale food market and a medical facility. The Toranomon-Azabudai redevelopment is estimated to get over by March of 2023.

Agenda 111’, the project including 101 district hospitals, ten regional hospitals and the renovation of Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital will be undertaken in Ghana and as per Ghanaian Ministry of Health, sites have been secured for 88 of 101 district hospitals, each to cost some $17m with a campus covering 15 acres.

The hospitals’ blueprint incorporates centuries-old Ghanaian Adinkra symbols and the designs are inspired by the Denkyem, a famous species of tiny crocodiles in Kenya.

Adjaye Associates comments in a press release, “By approaching the hospital as more than just a place for the provision of medical services, the design scheme aims to unlock the potential of this ambitious initiative by repositioning the hospital as a piece of community infrastructure that embodies sustainability, efficiency, and generously provides green spaces to facilitate wellness and healing.” Ghana’s Ministry of Health estimates that the first hospitals will be finished within the next year.

The City of Prague reported that it is preparing to convert slag produced from the incineration of waste into building materials. According to Hlubuček, the incinerator produces 65 to 70 thousand tons of slag annually and the city pays approximately CZK 40 million (EUR 1.5 million) a year for land filling.

This waste can now be converted into raw materials and used in the construction industry. More specifically, clean slag reportedly has various useful properties which would allow it to be utilized as a base layer in the construction of roads.

Hlubuček discussed the advantages of this initiative, stressing that it would result in great financial savings and a reduction of CO2 emissions and would help bring the capital closer to achieving its climate goals.

The first 3D printed steel bridge in the world – an innovative project headed by Dutch company MX3D, opened to the public in Amsterdam. The novel landmark spans one of the city’s oldest canals and sits in the center of the red-light district.

The 40-foot-long bridge doubles as a ‘living laboratory’ with hidden sensors that collect real-time data about the overpass’ performance. Researchers at Imperial College London will use this data to analyze how the bridge reacts over time as pedestrians interact with it.

“A 3D printed metal structure large and strong enough to handle pedestrian traffic has never been constructed before,” says Leroy Gardner, a structural engineer at Imperial, in a statement. “It’s fantastic to see it finally open to the public.”

As Mark Girolami, a civil engineer at the University of Cambridge who is working on the digital model, tells New Scientist’s Matthew Sparkes, bridge failures can often be attributed to overlooked deterioration. By constantly transmitting data about a bridge’s status, 3D printed versions may be able to provide early warnings and prevent collapses.

The developer of a 28,000 sq. km. resort on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, (TRSDC) The Red Sea Development Company, has become the first asset owner in the world to achieve the BIM Project Kitemark for its digital project delivery and adoption of BIM aligned to ISO 19650, awarded by the British Standards Institution (BSI).

John Pagano, CEO of TRSDC, said: “This certification is a remarkable achievement and demonstrates how serious we are about setting new standards throughout the design, construction and operations of our destinations. This way of working is an increasingly important part of the global design and construction marketplace and we look forward to sharing our knowledge with other projects around the world.”

Susan Taylor Martin, chief executive at BSI, said: “We are delighted to have worked with TRSDC on its adoption of international standards and specifically its market-leading BIM implementation.” The attainment of the Kitemark by TRSDC represents “an important milestone as the world’s first BIM Project Kitemark to be achieved by an asset owner”, she added.

Singapore unveiled one of the world’s largest floating solar panel farms, producing enough electricity to power the island’s five water treatment plants. Located on a reservoir in western Singapore, the 60 megawatt-peak solar photovoltaic (PV) farm has been built by a wholly-owned subsidiary of SembCorp Industries.

The solar farm could help to reduce carbon emissions by about 32 kilotonnes annually, according to a joint statement by the company and Singapore’s national water agency PUB. As opposed to conventional rooftop solar panels, floating ones perform between 5% to 15% better because of the cooling effect of the water.

The electricity generated from the 122,000 solar panels on the 45-hectare (111.2 acres) site should make Singapore one of the few countries in the world to have a water treatment system fully powered by sustainable energy. “It was carefully designed to improve airflow and allow sunlight passing through the water (to reach aquatic life),” said Jen Tan, a regional head at Sembcorp Industries. The solar panels are designed to last for 25 years and drones will be used to help with maintenance.

The Panamanian government is considering a Japanese proposal to build a 5km tunnel underneath the Panama Canal as part of a new metro project. As per statement issued by the Panamanian government, Japan is considering investing in the Latin American country, including working on the Line 3 Metro tunnel project.

The President of the Republic of Panama LaurentinoCortizo Cohen held a meeting with Japanese Chancellor ToshimitsuMotegi over the plans, with up to 70% of Japan’s commercial fleet using the canal itself. The 5.3km tunnel is separate from the contract to build the metro line itself.

When completed the line will be 34km long and link Phase 1 consists of a 25km elevated monorail. If approved then construction of the new tunnel could begin in 2023, with the tunnel itself dipping to 64m below sea level.