4
NEWS
CONSTRUCTION EUROPE
OCTOBER 2013
2013
Europlatform
conference
October 3
Istanbul,
Turkey
International Rental
Conference China
October 14
Beijing, China
BICES 2013
October 15 - 18
Beijing, China
World Crane &
Transport Summit
October 29 - 30
Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
World Demolition
Summit
October 31
Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
com
International Tower
Cranes Conference
November 5
Berlin,
Germany
ICEF International
Construction Economic
Forum
November 20 - 22
Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
2014
Intermat Middle East
January 14 - 16
Abu Dhabi,
UAE
World of Concrete
January 21 - 24
Las Vegas, USA
ConExpo-Con/Agg
March 4 - 8, 2014
Las Vegas, USA
After two years of work, the largest tunnel boring
machine (TBM) ever manufactured by Herrenknecht
has achieved final breakthrough on the Sparvo
Tunnel project in Italy. The 15.5m diameter earth
pressure balance shield TBM – known as Martina –
produced the shell of the 2.4km long dual-tube road
tunnel, which runs between Bologna and Florence.
The project is designed to reduce the traffic on the
the Autostrada A1 in the future. Contractor Toto
Costruzioni Generali began tunnelling in August
2011, reaching breakthrough on the first tunnel in
July 2012. The TBM then turned 180
o
to start the
second bore in December, completing the task in
eight months.
EVENTS DIARY
Cement competition
penalties in Belgium
Competition Council imposes fines of €14.7 million on
producers and associations for restricting competition
T
hree cement producers and two associations in
Belgium have been hit with penalties totalling
€14.7 million for restricting access to the Belgian
market to new entrants.
The fines were imposed by the Belgian Competition
Council (BCC), which said that Belgian subsidiary of
producer HeidelbergCement, CBR, together with the
Belgian subsidiary of Italcimenti, CCB, had colluded
with fellow producer Holcim and the Federation of
the Belgian Cement Industry (FEBELCEM), as well as
the National Centre for Technical & Scientific Research
for the Cement Industry (CRIC/OCCN), to restrict
competition.
“These parties have concerted with each other,
between May 2000 and October 2003, with a view to
delaying the adoption of a licence and of standards
making it possible to use ground granulated blast
furnace slag (GGBFS) as a component of ready-mix
concrete,” the BCC said.
A FEBELCEM spokesperson said the association would
investigate the BCC decision in detail. They said it was
possible to launch an appeal within a month.
Holcim said its Belgian subsidiary would also
consider whether to file an appeal, while CBR said it
and its lawyers continued to assert that the actions
of FEBELCEM and its members remained within the
limits of a normal lobbying. CBR said it intended to
file an appeal, adding that it was committed to strict
compliance to the competition law.
However, Donal O’Riain, managing director of Orcem’s
parent company Ecocem Materials, welcomed the
“historic decision”.
“The tactic of competition discrimination in cement
markets via manipulation of technical standards by the
established industry leaders is widespread in Europe,”
O’Riain said, adding that the company planned to take
legal action for compensation of several tens of millions
of Euros against the cement companies concerned.
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Signs of recovery for UK construction?
July’s volume of
construction output in
the UK rose by 2.2% over
the previous month,
largely as a result of an
increase in new work and
a small rise in repair and
maintenance.
Figures from the UK’s
Office for National
Statistics (ONS) also
showed that when
comparing July 2013 with
July 2012, construction
output had increased by
2.0% thanks to a 5.8%
increase in new work.
The news comes after
statistics from the UK
NHBC (National House-
Building Council) showed
that house-building levels
for July were 19% higher
(13,539) than the same
month last year (11,391).
Taking the rolling
quarter into account
(May to July 2013) the
period reveals a 30%
increase compared to
the same period last year,
with 37,738 new homes
registered.
However, the UK
government has been
separately accused of
seeming to lack the
political will to tackle
some major infrastructure
issues head on.
UK businesses are
concerned that two
years of positive
UK government
infrastructure policy
announcements will not
translate into delivery
on the ground, and
could undermine the
return to sustainable
growth, according to a
report released by the
Confederation of British
Industry and professional
services company KPMG.
The survey of 526
business leaders showed
an improving UK
infrastructure investment
environment, but it found
that two out of three
firms (65%) believed that
government policies
would have no tangible
impact, or even a
negative one.
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