Source: https://top-list.co/top-construction-projects-in-the-uk-v12426.html
- Forest Green Rovers stadium
- Tottenham Hotspur stadium
- The Elizabeth Tower – Big Ben
- Battersea Power Station
- HS2 – High Speed 2
- Trafford Park Metrolink
- Channel Tunnel interconnector project
Forest Green Rovers stadium
The choice of Gloucestershire-based Forest Green Rovers to construct a timber football stadium was unusual. When you consider the present impression of flammable materials and the backdrop of financial insecurity confronting lower-league teams, it has become an even bolder decision.
A director from Zaha Hadid, who designed the wooden edifice (above), told CN- a wood firm in February 2020 that wood was the desired material for stadium construction since it was both low-carbon and conducive to an aesthetic design.
The 5,000-seat stadium received planning clearance in December of last year, and the government chose not to cancel the project soon before the coronavirus outbreak. Since then, there have been predictions that the stadium will be completed in just two years.
Forest Green chairman Dale Vince has stated that football would not be played there until 2023, but next year will be critical for the development of this one-of-a-kind facility.
Estimated value: £250,000,000
Forest Green Rovers stadium
Tottenham Hotspur stadium
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the home of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in north London, replacing the club’s previous stadium, White Hart Lane.
Tottenham Hotspur’s new 62,000-seater stadium is rising above the brick structures that have surrounded White Hart Lane for decades. The stadium, which is scheduled to open in summer 2018, has undertaken numerous difficult undertakings, including the lifting of its 600-tonne roof onto the structure.
Fortunately, the difficult surgery went off without a hitch! To complement its one-of-a-kind characteristics, the structure will contain a five-story glass atrium and a single deck of seats to create its own ‘wall of sound,’ seating fans closer to the field than any other stadium of its size.
Another distinguishing feature is its 40-meter-high ‘Sky Lounge’ bar, which provides panoramic views of the pitch from behind glass (for those people who want to attend a football match without actually attending a football match)!
Estimate value: £100,000,000
Tottenham Hotspur stadium
The Elizabeth Tower – Big Ben
Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the striking clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster, however, the name is usually expanded to include the clock and clock tower as well. The official name of the tower in which Big Ben is placed was originally the Clock Tower, but it was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to commemorate Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. The tower is a British cultural icon recognised all over the world. It is one of the most prominent symbols of the United Kingdom and parliamentary democracy.
In the summer of 2017, the Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben, became quiet to undertake a significant conservation project. It had been over 31 years since the last substantial maintenance work on the Elizabeth Tower, and faults with the clock hands, mechanism, and pendulum had been detected, which needed to be addressed urgently to guarantee that the clock could continue to function correctly.
Big Ben is the tallest and heaviest of the tower’s five bells, weighing 13.5 long tons (13.7 tonnes; 15.1 short tons). For 23 years, it was the biggest bell in the United Kingdom.
The work has been allocated to Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd and is projected to be finished by 2021 at a cost of £61 million.
Estimate value: £61 million
The Elizabeth Tower – Big Ben
Battersea Power Station
Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station, located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Nine Elms, Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. Phase two of Battersea Power Station, overseen by the construction firm Mace, is presently under development, with the iconic chimneys already repaired.
The Battersea Power Station rehabilitation project will comprise 250 new retail, food and beverage facilities, a 2,000 capacity events space, a chimney lift experience, a six-acre park and a riverfront promenade, allowing the Power Station to be accessible to the public for the first time.
The Power Station skyscraper will also house Apple’s new London Campus and provide 500,000 square feet of new office space. The 42-acre site’s £9 billion renovation comprises a new tube station, a new river bus service, over 3 million square feet of commercial space, including 1.25 million square feet of office space, and over 4000 dwellings.
Battersea Power Station has become an iconic structure, being featured in or used as a shooting location for many films, television programmes, music videos and video games.
Estimate value: £120,000,000
Battersea Power Station
HS2 – High Speed 2
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in the United Kingdom between London and Wigan. The railway will be the country’s second purpose-built high-speed line, the first being HS1, the connection from London to the Channel Tunnel.
HS2 will have two classes of trains capable of operating at the line’s design speed of 400 km/h (250 mph). One class is dedicated to HS2 track, the other operates on both HS2 track and existing conventional track, reaching locations off the HS2 line using mixed HS2/conventional network services.
The initiative has received both support and criticism. Supporters of the project think that HS2 will boost capacity and reliability to accommodate pre-Covid growing passenger numbers while driving further mode shift to rail. Opponents argue that the project will not be ecologically or financially sustainable. In response to criticism, the government commissioned a review of the project in 2019, which was conducted by the project’s previous chairman, Douglas Oakervee, and recommended that the whole project proceed as planned.
HS2 is Europe’s greatest infrastructure project, aiming to bridge the north-south divide and create a country that works together. It entails the construction of 345 miles of new high-speed track connecting the city centers of London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds.
Estimate value: £1,500,000,000
HS2 – High Speed 2
Trafford Park Metrolink
Greater Manchester Transport is planning a new Trafford Park line that will run from Pomona and stop at six new tram stations.
Wharfside (near Old Trafford), the Imperial War Museum, significant commercial locations around the industrial park, Eventcity, and the intu Trafford Centre will all be included in the route.
The 5.5km line seeks to provide quick and frequent access to jobs, leisure, retail, and cultural areas located outside of the city center. The road will be largely separated from existing traffic, resulting in more consistent travel times.
This project is a collaboration between Volkerrail, Laing O’Rourke, and Mpact Thales, with WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff serving as the Design Interface Management Delivery Partner.
The project began in November 2017 and is scheduled to be finished in November 2021.
Estimated value: £350,000,000
Trafford Park Metrolink
Channel Tunnel interconnector project
ElecLink and Groupe Eurotunell have hired Balfour Beatty and engineering experts Mott MacDonald Group Limited to build a cable link between two new converter stations in Folkestone and Coquelles, France.
According to Mott MacDonald Group, the 1GW, 51km high voltage direct current interconnector will fulfill the UK’s energy needs while also supporting the UK and France’s energy mix balance.
This exchange will allow for the control of demand peaks and troughs as well as fluctuations in power generation. It will also cut CO2 emissions by exporting any energy excess from the UK to Europe.
Plans to improve the existing channel tunnel imply that no marine life will be harmed during the installation procedure.
Works began in February 2017 and aim to be completed by August 2020.
Estimated value: £185,000,000
Channel Tunnel interconnector project
