In the United States, the national flood-control infrastructure is aging and its structural health is deteriorating; the system comprises more than 5,600 km of levees, and 43 percent of the U.S. population lives in counties with levees designed to provide some level of protection from flooding; some of these levees are as old as 150 years; in 2009, the American Society of Civil Engineers Report Card for America’s Infrastructure gave the condition of the nation’s dams a grade of D, and levees a grade of D-minus; an dam-strength experiment in the Netherland helps engineers collect data to validate new suite of technologies for assessing the health of levees and dams

Civil engineers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute were part of an international research team that collapsed a full-scale dike this week in The Netherlands. The test dike was embedded with advanced sensors and traditional measurement instruments, and results of the study are expected to help validate powerful new technologies for monitoring the health of aging flood-control infrastructure.

Around £150 million of packages have been unveiled in Scotland's draft budget for 2013-2014 which should provide a boost to the construction sector.

The country's finance secretary John Swinney presented the ideas to the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh and said that the idea was to support the industry and "inject growth into the economy".

Nexans is showing its new anti-theft cable solutions at InnoTrans, which opened yesterday in Berlin; the solution promises to help network operators reduce the high volume of copper cables theft along their railway networks

Nexans, an expert in the cable industry, is launching its new anti-theft cable solutions at InnoTrans, which opened yesterday in Berlin. The solution promises to help network operators reduce the high volume of copper cables theft along their railway networks.

We know that security and safety is important at all times, but at Christmas, that month when the entire country seems to go mad, it is even more imperative to ensure your site doesn't fall victim to crime. With the recession biting hard, opportunistic crime is on the increase and, during the 'silly season' even more so. Remember, it needn't cost the earth to effectively secure your site and ensure that your project doesn't come to a grinding halt due to theft!
CCSec's 6-step guide helps you plan ahead.

Step 1. Start early – It's never too early to start thinking about security and how to protect the assets of the construction site. The layout is important, i.e. do not store valuable materials close to main gates or the perimeter of the site where they can be easily got at by a hiab lorry! Identify the weak areas of the perimeter and strengthen those vulnerable areas. Always include a nominal amount in your prelims for security systems; a few hundred pounds per week would not be too far off!

A number of major house builders have been using wireless video alarms in South of the UK to protect their assets and stop metal theft. The driving force has been to deliver enhanced security and health and safety, whilst cutting costs on current methods. The unique pallet cam was installed by ACE Defence Security. www.acedefencesecurity.com

Destruction of coastal habitats may release as much as one billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year, ten times higher than previously reported, according to a new Duke led study.

Published online this week in PLOS ONE, the analysis provides the most comprehensive estimate of global carbon emissions from the loss of these coastal habitats to date: 0.15 to 1.2 billion tons.

Bridges, roof structures, cars, and more should become increasingly lighter, with the same stability, and thus save energy and materials; the new high-strength steel is superbly suited for the needed lightweight design because it can also withstand extremely heavy stresses; yet these materials also have a disadvantage: with increasing strength, their susceptibility to cold cracking rises when welded; cracks are difficult to predict — until now.

Cold cracking in high-strength steel presents major quality assurance challenges for the automotive and machine-building industries, since cracks are difficult to predict — until now. A new process can determine, as early as the design stage, whether critical conditions for such damage can be prevented. This lowers development times and costs.

CCSec has just introduced its new Vehicle Loop alarm to the UK, providing an added layer of security to its comprehensive alarm and monitoring package.

The Vehicle Loop Alarm is a wireless device which protects plant machinery from theft by way of an alarmed cable which is simply wrapped around the machinery, and then plugged together.

Over the past 15 years we have seen lots of changes in the construction industry with highs, followed by the inevitable lows. With the economy currently in the grip of recession, every business is looking for ways to reduce its costs but cutting certain corners, like overall site security, can often be more costly in the long run.

CCSec has become aware of an emerging trend where construction firms buy purely on price and are taken in by what appears to be a great deal – comprehensive site security at bargain bucket prices. However, once the purchase is complete and the kit installed they quickly realise the equipment is sub-standard and doesn't do what they need it to!

Villagers are worried about the safety of children after plans were announced to demolish a quarry site.

Concerns have been raised after a cement factory in Barrington, which closed four years ago, has said it will not be brought back into production.

CEMEX UK has announced there is no economic case to re-start production at its cement plant in Barrington and will demolish the facility.

Tony Fletcher, chairman of Barrington Parish Council, told the Weekly News, that once the factory is pulled down, villagers fear the ongoing security at the site maybe stopped. He said: “We didn’t expect it to re-open in view of the economic state, especially in the building industry at the moment.