Construction & Infrastructure - What's News - 19 August 2014

In the media

ARENA funds world-first large scale redeployable hybrid solar plant Laing O'Rourke is commencing manufacture of the world's first fully redeployable large-scale hybrid solar-diesel power plant suited to supplying power for off-grid remote and regional locations. ARENA this week announced it would provide funding of $450,000 towards the $1.5 million pilot roll-out, (14 August 2014). More...

Mining contractor pleads guilty over death of electrician at Fortescue Metals Christmas Creek mine Mining contractor Crushing Services International (CSI) has pleaded guilty over the death of an electrician at Fortescue Metal's Christmas Creek mine in WA's Pilbara. FMG also appointed external consultants to review safety with a focus on contractors (12 August 2014). More...

UIA declares commitment to phasing out CO2 emissions in built environment The historic declaration, presented on 8 August at the UIA World Congress in Durban, provides an unprecedented opportunity to reduce fossil fuel CO2 emissions by setting the global building sector on a path to phase out CO2 emissions by 2050 (08 August 2014). More...

Construction sector resurgence should create jobs: HIA and AIG index The Australian Industry Group - Housing Industry Association Performance of Construction Index rose 0.8 points to 52.6 in the July figures. It was the second consecutive month that the index has been above the 50-point level that separates expansion from contraction (07 August 2014). More...

Brisbane City Council's City Plan missing green metrics Brisbane's City Plan which sets the city's course to 2031, has been criticise for setting no firm metrics or enforceable mechanisms for achieving results in waste, water and energy beyond minimum standards required by national policies and the National Construction Code (07 August 2014). More...

Engineers Australia calls for Queensland commitment to infrastructure The Queensland branch of Engineers Australia has called for the Queensland government to address the significant shortfalls in infrastructure planning for the state following the release of the community-led Queensland Plan, saying that resource spending is no longer masking low levels of spending on public infrastructure (07 August 2014). More...

General construction strong while mining growth slows: WTP report The latest WT Partnership Review of Australian Construction Market Conditions to June 2014 shows an increase in general construction projects progressing to tender and continuing falls in the activity of the mining and infrastructure sector (06 August 2014). More...

Half of construction products probably not up to standard in Australia: ACIF Evidence suggests that the market penetration of non-conforming products in several key construction product sectors in Australia may be up to 50 per cent, according to the Australian Construction Industry Forum (ACIF) (05 August 2014). More...

New South Wales

NSW Government launches investigation into loose-fill asbestos WorkCover NSW will contract an independent specialist to work with the NSW Heads of Asbestos Coordination Authorities (HACA) to help establish the scope of properties impacted and determine the number of premises in NSW that may contain loose -filled asbestos ceiling insulation material (15 August 2014). More...

Have your say on Rebuilding NSW NSW...