CONTENTS '09.09.10
NewCivilEngineer
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www.nce.co.uK New Civil Engineerlst Floor,GreaterLondonHouse HampsteadRoad,LondonNW17EJ EDITORIALENQUIRIES Email: prefixplus @emap.com EDITOR1Antony Oliver (020) 77284541 antony.oliver DEPUTYEDITOR1JackieWhitelaw (020)77284542 jackie.whitelaw MANAGINGEDITOR1MarkHansford (020)77284543 mark.hansford NEWSEDITOR
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NEWS Energy
High planning costs threaten to undermine SevernBarrageplan
10
NEWS Transport
Glasgow airport link could be revived after Scottish election
Aisein thisissue
05 News
Arup to shed 600 jobs amid economic uncertainty
08 News
Dounreay clean up delayed as staff numbers eut
13 News
Stottish road tolls to fight carbon froissions
14 Letters
New Orleans, guided buses, cycling, airships
15 BCIA
Small civil engineering project shordist
16
ICENews
Northern lreland infrastructure report
Comment
AntonyOliver
.10 NEWCIVilENGINEER3
COVERINSETIMAGE:SHO
SPECIALREPORT Thameslink
How the railway across central London is being upgraded
"Thecoalitionappearsto be runninghardaway froman, whiff of publicspending"
LetObamalsinfrastrudure spending planinspire us
President Obama this week said: "infrastruc- ture investment is one key way to continue
.recovery and keep our economy growing".
Weil there you have it - he bas clearly been reading NCE. The message bas made it ail the way to the world's most powerful man.
Admittedly the President's f33bn plan to revamp America's road, rail and runway network is weil shy of the f300bn demanded by the US engineering profession. But it does at least demonstrate a much needed public commitment to providing decent infrastructure and an acceptance that it is key to the nation's future.
Sadly the UK does not appear to be on the saille page. On the contrary, with the October spending review looming, the coalition seems to be running bard away froIDany whiff of public spending.
Stories this week surrounding the impending cancellation of the Severn Barrage are particularly worrying. Because, no marrer where you stand on the merits of
this proposed project, it is a scheme and a technology that at least merits investigation.
Instead it would appear that it will be culled, not because the project itself is too expensive but because the process of investi- gating the options and negotiating the UK's cumbersome planning process would be too cosdy for the public puIse and too risky for the private sector.
1 can't help but think that something is wrong here. Unless, of course, this is a clever political ploy to avoid investing public money in anything remotely controversial, complex, or expensive ever again.
Don't rule that out mind rOll. The desire to reduce not only the deficit but also the size of the state burden is huge and increases with every opposition noise to the contrary. Such a policy would certainly scupper thoughts about High Speed 2, airport expansion or much needed port development.
But to cancel infrastructure investment on the grounds that it would cost too much to
get through the planning process is some- what topsy-turvy to say the least.
There is certainly no doubt that, even though a ridai scheme between Weston- Super-Mare and Cardiff could meet up to 5%of the UK's electricity demand with a predictable and zero-cadJOn supply, there is no doubt that it is very contentious.
And yes it would require a great deal of pubic investment in detailed investigation and mitigation to make a case stack up throughout the planning process.
But it is money that, should the scheme go ahead, would bereturned in spades to the public puIse and the public asset base.
The UK planning process is too cumber- some - we know that. Unfortunately for UK infrastructure, the problem goes beyond planning - where risk caTIquickly be reduced and managed with solid leadership.
It is in this alfa that our UK masters could easily learn froIDObama.
