Andrew Wyllie, Costain chief executive, becomes the 154^th president of the ICE

Growing Coffey's Brisbane geoservices team with the appointment of two team leaders

Fugro has come away from this year’s British Drilling Association (BDA) awards with success in categories celebrating exceptional individuals, industry excellence and project performance in the geotechnical field.

Fugro is providing Qatargas Operating Company Limited (Qatargas) with underwater inspection, geotechnical and geophysical services for its offshore operations in Qatar under a new 5-year call off contract.

The Emirate of Dubai is constantly attracting attention with spectacular construction projects, unique design concepts and exceptional superlatives. Not only does it feature the world's tallest building at present – the 828 m-high Burj Khalifa – in the city on the Persian Gulf, it is also renowned worldwide for the artificially built island of Palm Jumeirah with its villas, holiday homes and hotels. The Bauer Spezialtiefbau GmbH subsidiary in Dubai was already playing a key role in the construction of the island in 2004. Vibro techniques were used to consolidate over 10 million m³ of sand and the subsoil was stabilized for the future development.

A highly successful Intergeo 2018 drew to a close in Frankfurt. The trade fair and conference reinforced their credentials as the world’s number one communications and networking forum for the geo-IT sector. “The industry is embracing digitalisation in all its fascinating facets,” sums up DVW President Hansjörg Kutterer.

After ten years at the top of BAUER Maschinen GmbH, Dieter Stetter will soon hand over the leadership in younger hands. The current Chairman of the Management Board, who has been working for Bauer since the early 1980s, has been instrumental in the sales of Bauer machinery in Asia. On December 1st, his successor will be Dr. Ruediger Kaub, who is to become a member of the board of directors of BAUER Maschinen GmbH as of October 1st. The 55-year-old mining engineer has many years of international experience in product management, sales and management.

Bauer Aktiengesellschaft is now approaching the change in the top management released in the ad-hoc announcement dated April 28. From November 1, Mr. Michael Stomberg will take over the position of Chairman of the Management Board from Prof. Thomas Bauer, who will be leaving the Management Board at the same time.

With a total area of 1,890 km², Lake Okeechobee is the largest freshwater lake in the state of Florida, USA. Although it extends around 56 km in length and 48 km in width, the lake is exceptionally shallow with an average depth of 3 m and, furthermore, it has no major natural drainage channels. As protection from storm urges and floods due to high water levels, the existing dike was first expanded in the 1920s; this included the construction of additional channels, locks and dams. After a visit by the then President Herbert Hoover, the project was named after him: Herbert Hoover Dike.

• $2.6 Billion Expansion Includes 50 Projects to Modernize 9.8 Miles of the Congested LIRR Main Line Between Floral Park and Hicksville
• Expansion Includes New and Renovated Bridges, Elimination of Grade Crossings, New Power Substations, Additional Parking, Renovated Stations, Modern Track and Signal Infrastructure
• Part of Governor's Overall $6 Billion Investment in 100 LIRR Projects to Transform Region's Commuter Rail Service and Bolster Economic Growth

Fugro is introducing a new bathymetric lidar system that delivers industry-leading depth penetration and point densities for nearshore and coastal mapping. Known as RAMMS (Rapid Airborne Multibeam Mapping System), the field-proven technology promises to deliver an efficient and cost-effective solution, dramatically improving upon other bathymetric lidar mapping capabilities.

Tender volume: approx. EUR 163.6m

At the hub of the fast growing Southeast Asian region, the Thai capital Bangkok is the second most visited city in the world, with around 23.3 million visitors in 2017. As the political, economic and cultural center of Thailand, the bustling metropolis is set to welcome “One Bangkok”, a new fully integrated district located opposite Lumphini Park in the heart of the city.

Fugro has been awarded a £5.2 million site characterisation package by Align JV as part of design and construction preparation works for Phase 1 of the UK’s HS2 high-speed rail network (Area: Central 1).

The Chaleun Sekong Energy Co Ltd (CSE) has awarded Pöyry with the owner's engineering services assignment for the Nam Kong 3 Hydro Power Plant (NK3 HPP) project located in Attapue, Laos. The 54 MW green fields project is expected to be completed by May 2020.

The project includes the design, civil works and installation of a Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) dam, spillway, plunge pool, headrace tunnel, power house tailrace channel and switchyard with associated hydro and electro-mechanical work, as well as erection of a new transmission line. NK3 HPP is one of several power plants that are being constructed in Laos closely monitored by the country's Ministry of Energy and Mines to help reach its target of 12,500 MW capacity by the year 2020. This target aims to solve power shortage problems within the country and bring about economic benefits by supplying 7 to 8 per cent of the energy demands of nearby Sub-Mekong regions.  

Pöyry's assignment includes assistance in project management, design and design review, and site supervision services. As of today, Pöyry has completed the initial river diversion works within 6 months from signing the project contract in November 2017, and two weeks ahead of schedule. The site quarry and crusher system became operational at the end of May 2018 while the structural concrete works in the main dam (bottom outlet / diversion) began last June.

Pöyry has also been a partner in the technical design of many other hydro power plant projects of CSE in the region.  

"We are pleased to be chosen as a trusted partner for this and other project in Laos for CSE, which, upon completion is seen to progress the country's energy landscape and set to improve its social and economic status in the region," said Knut Sierotzki, Director, Hydropower, Asia.

The value of the order is not disclosed. The order will be recognised within the Energy Business Group order stock in H2/2017.

Source: Pöyry

Seabed Geosolutions has been awarded a series of 4D ocean bottom node (OBN) seismic monitoring surveys over multiple oil and gas fields in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The surveys, with a duration of around two months subject to final scope of work, will commence in the third quarter of 2018.

With the completely redesigned Bauer BG 15 H, Bauer Maschinen GmbH is breaking new ground in the ValueLine. This state-of-the-art innovation specifically fulfills the requirements of a highly functional and cost-effective machine in the small drilling rig segment and also scores with extremely compact transport dimensions. Increased efficiency, increased mobility, increased flexibility, increased comfort – the Bauer BG 15 H is a clear statement of functionality and, at the same time, offers all the advantages needed to face the challenges of small construction sites.

Leading geotechnical engineer, Dr Fraser Bransby, has been appointed Fugro Chair in Geotechnics at The University of Western Australia’s Oceans Graduate School (OGS) within the Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences.

RockPulse™, a new technology and product introduced by Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, is the first practical solution for real-time tool stress monitoring in top-hammer drilling. The add-on system integrates directly with the rock drill and its control system, and can be used for drilling process optimization in varying rock conditions. This also helps to reduce the stress fatigue of drilling tools. RockPulse offers significant potential to improve overall drilling performance, by as much as 5 %.

Construction professionals can tap into cutting edge approaches to site characterisation and ground risk modelling at free seminars being run this summer by global geoscience leader Fugro.