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Civil engineering orders slumped in September 2023 according to the Construction Purchasing Manager’s Index, but there was a more positive picture across the third quarter of this year.

¹û¶³Ó°Ôºâ€™s own index shows an upturn compared to the second quarter of this year, driven by infrastructure work.

The overall value of civil engineering work at an underlying level (schemes below £100 million) starting on site in the third quarter of this year rose by 8% against Q2 2023. Although utilities work declined 32% on the three months to June 2023, there was a 48% leap in infrastructure starts to produce an overall rise in civil engineering work with more to come.

¹û¶³Ó°Ôºâ€™s construction market intelligence shows that there are 80,207 underlying infrastructure projects due to start on-site in the 12 months from 17 October 2023 to 17 October 2024.

Road to recovery

A host of major infrastructure schemes are coming through the pipeline and set to boost workloads through the launch of the Government’s new £36 billion Network North programme (Project ID: 23317633).

Coming after the government cancelled the northern leg of HS2, Network North will fund schemes such as the £38.5 million A509 Isham Bypass in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire (Project ID: 94282870). With funding now guaranteed, joint clients North Northamptonshire Council and West Northamptonshire Council could start work next spring according to ¹û¶³Ó°Ôºâ€™s construction industry research.

A £23 million plan for a link road from the junction of the M58/M6 to the A49 in Wigan – known as the Wigan East-West route – will also benefit from Network North funds and could commence next May (Project ID: 23317633).

A £35 million link road in Cumbria, the Kendal Northern Access Route, now also has funding and has a provisional start date of next summer (Project ID: 94284522).

Southern roads

Highways schemes in southern England – and outside the Network North programme – are also progressing. A decision on a contractor is imminent for phases 4-5 of a £31.9 million dualling of the A350 in Wiltshire with work scheduled to begin in February (Project ID: 22381183).

In Cornwall, design work is underway for a £38 million tunnel on the A38 with a start on site provisionally expected next March according to ¹û¶³Ó°Ôºâ€™s data.

Rail plans

In the rail sector, construction of a £20 million new station at Lowfields near Calderdale in West Yorkshire should commence before the end of this year (Project ID: 19163735).

Elsewhere, tenders have been returned for a £45 million digital signal technology programme originating in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and due to begin in February next year (Project ID: 18406666), while detailed plans have been submitted for a £13.1 million new station at Edginswell in Torquay with a start scheduled for April 2024 (Project ID: 23239859).

Utilities rebound

The utilities sector has not matched infrastructure work because the last phase of spending is drawing to a close but procurement for the next round is underway and should soon buoy workloads.

Tenders will be returned to Northumbrian Water on November 10 for its £4.5 billion framework, which is expected to start in April 2024 (Project ID: 23130903), while contractors are expected to be invited to bid next month for Affinity Water’s £900 million framework (Project ID: 23320546). Both should begin next spring.

With work coming on stream from a variety of sources, a sustained uptick in civil engineering work should come soon.