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- 17/11/2025
17/11/2025
The Daily Dirt Aus
By G’day Construction………….……
THE MORNING PAPER FOR CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS AND TRADIES
🚨 Safety Updates
Height safety certification is essential and legally required for anyone working at heights. It builds competence in fall prevention, equipment use and emergency response, reducing accidents and boosting confidence. For employers, it improves compliance, reduces liability and enhances reputation. Certification ensures safer worksites, higher productivity and long-term protection for workers and businesses.
✒ Headlines & Industry
Strong growth in defence and infrastructure projects has helped Lendlease secure $3 billion in new construction work, as the company remains under pressure from investors to prove that it is emerging from a decade of underperformance.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said more funding for the Suburban Rail Loop will be allocated in next year's budget, on top of the more-than $9 billion that has already been pledged. Premier Jacinta Allan announced the Metro Tunnel project would open on November 30, a week earlier than previously announced. The state government also insists the West Gate Tunnel was safe for people to walk through this morning despite concerns being raised by the firefighters union.
🏗️ Projects
NSW
The New South Wales (NSW) Government has released new designs for the planned A$910m ($596.22m) Rouse Hill Hospital, which will serve communities in north-west Sydney, Australia.
Sydney Airport has this week opened a global tender for consulting partners to support the design and delivery of its $6 billion capital works programme, spanning the airport’s full pipeline of infrastructure projects over the next five years.
Transgrid’s 365 km, 500 kV HumeLink project in NSW is progressing, connecting renewable energy to the grid. HumeLink East and West involve transmission towers, substations, access tracks, and worker accommodations. Major works include piling, concrete foundations, and steel assembly, with first conductor stringing planned for early 2026.
Financial close has been reached and construction has started on the 300 MW Blind Creek Solar Farm near Bungendore, NSW. Gransolar Construction will deliver the EPC works, and Wartsila will supply the 243 MW / 486 MWh onsite battery storage, marking a major step in the project’s development.
NT
The NT Government is upgrading and sealing the Plenty Highway as part of the Outback Way program, improving 499 km of key Central Australian road. Works include new dual-lane seals, concrete causeways and major design stages, boosting safety, connectivity, freight efficiency and access for remote communities ahead of 2026 completion.
Oil and gas giant Inpex has proposed Australia’s largest carbon capture facility in waters off the Northern Territory, which climate advocates have warned could turn Darwin into a carbon dumping ground. The Bonaparte carbon capture and storage (CCS) project proposes to pipe and store 8m to 10m tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) into an underground aquifer located about 250km offshore west of Darwin, according to documents lodged with the federal environment department.
QLD
The $2.6 billion Infinity Planet project proposes a 79-hectare tourism city at Elimbah, delivering major theme park structures, three hotel towers, glamping facilities, cultural precincts, innovation hubs and extensive road and parking upgrades. Staged to 2030, the development will drive large-scale construction demand and create over a thousand building jobs.
A proposal for two residential towers in Woolloongabba includes a 53-storey and 36-storey tower, 447 apartments, a mixed-use podium, retail, and a 1,160 m² public plaza. Featuring the STEAMM Gallery & Garden, the project supports the high-density, transit-oriented growth planned around The Gabba and Cross River Rail.
Toowoomba Regional Council has awarded early works for the Cressbrook Dam Safety Improvement Project to local contractor Joe Wagner Group. Upgrades to Kipper Creek Road, a key access route, include sealing and safety improvements for heavy vehicles. Works are expected to finish by the end of 2025, ahead of main construction.
VIC
Sunbury residents say they are tired of being the state's "dumping ground" after waste-to-energy facility proposed nearby a receives a cap license from Recycling Victoria.
The Melton Line Upgrade in West Melbourne has been awarded to an alliance of John Holland, KBR, and Metro Trains Melbourne. The project includes station upgrades for nine-car Vlocity trains, new stabling at Cobblebank, and a new Melton station. Completion is expected by December 2027, following level crossing removals.
Central Highlands Water has partnered with Veolia under the 15-year Water6 program to operate six regional water treatment plants, including White Swan and Lal Lal. Commencing October 2025, the collaboration aims to enhance efficiency, sustainability, emissions reduction, and resilience, ensuring reliable, safe, and future-ready drinking water for Central Highlands communities.
WA
Perth’s new lord mayor says the long-awaited overhaul of the city’s convention centre is “incredibly important” to its economic future, despite the WA government axing the $1.6 billion redevelopment last week.
Western Australians must shake off their aversion to apartment living and embrace high-density housing solutions to support population growth across the metropolitan area, the state government says.
🚀 Innovation, Digital & Futuristic Technology
This review maps how AI and BIM are reshaping construction, boosting accuracy, efficiency and full life-cycle management. Using global research analysis, it highlights current applications, emerging breakthroughs and future industry trends. It’s essential reading for understanding where construction technology is heading and how these tools can improve project delivery.
In 2025, the US engineering and construction industry faced slowing growth, supply chain disruptions, rising material costs, and acute labor shortages. Despite challenges, AI-driven data center construction and energy infrastructure offered opportunities. Digital transformation, automation, and strategic workforce innovation are essential for resilience, efficiency, and competitive advantage in 2026.
Autodesk launched Autodesk Estimate, a cloud-based tool within Autodesk Construction Cloud, enabling contractors and subcontractors to link 2D/3D takeoffs with costs, labour, and materials. It centralizes cost data, supports real-time updates, reduces errors, and enhances collaboration, bridging design and construction for more accurate, efficient, and consistent project estimates.
🌱 Sustainability & Environment
Cementir Group has introduced its low-carbon D-Carb® white cement in the Middle East and Africa, produced at Sinai White Cement in Egypt. The new formulations reduce clinker content by up to 20%, supporting regional decarbonisation goals while maintaining performance, helping MEA construction sectors transition toward lower-carbon building materials.
Researchers developed eco-friendly polymer composites using waste polystyrene reinforced with sawdust, red brick, and ceramic waste. The materials show improved strength, moisture resistance, thermal stability, and insulating properties, making them suitable for lightweight construction and insulation. This approach repurposes construction and packaging waste, supporting sustainable, low-impact building solutions.
ARRC (Advanced Resource Recovery Centre) Gold Coast has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Visy Recycling and the City of Gold Coast to advance the development of a new Materials Recovery Facility within the ARRC Precinct at Stapylton.
Optimizing boron nitride and titanium dioxide in foamed concrete leads to superior strength, durability, and thermal performance for sustainable construction.
A UK project trialling recycled concrete fines has been described as a ‘breakthrough’ in sustainable cement innovation. A UK trial led by Holcim and MPI successfully used recycled concrete fines (RCF) to replace ~20% of clinker in cement, reducing carbon emissions. The CEM II formulation proved feasible for production, with further testing and BS 8500 standardisation planned. This innovation supports sustainable construction and future low-carbon cement use.
🌏 Around the World
The UK will build its first small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear plant at Wylfa on Anglesey, an island off northwest Wales - but it won't generate power until the mid-2030s.
The rapid growth of artificial intelligence and cloud computing is driving a global construction surge for data centres with some projects now costing more than $20bn, according to a new report from German insurance and asset management company Allianz Commercial.
Demand for high-performance computing power has prompted developers to build facilities on an unprecedented scale, with up to $7tn expected to be spent on data centre construction worldwide by 2030, driven largely by US and Chinese technology companies.
The European Spallation Source (ESS) in Lund, Sweden, is a multi-billion-euro, multinational mega-lab using a linear particle accelerator to produce intense neutron beams for research. Construction milestones include ‘Beam on Dump’ in 2025, with neutrons expected by March 2026. ESS will enable breakthroughs in materials, quantum computing, and healthcare.
📖 Miscellaneous
The steel industry is advancing toward decarbonization through low-carbon technologies like hydrogen-based DRI and electric arc furnaces, supported by regulatory incentives, green hydrogen availability, and strategic partnerships. Challenges include high energy demands, feedstock limitations, and global policy disparities, but collaboration, innovation, and evolving carbon markets are driving a shift toward sustainable steel production.
👷♀️ Tradies and Resource
Developers are racing the clock to get private housing projects delivered before the state’s construction workforce abandons them for more lucrative Olympic & Paralympic Games infrastructure contracts.
Two young female carpentry apprentices, Molly Brown and Meg Turner, are helping break barriers in a male-dominated trade while easing local skills shortages. Training at TAFE NSW Dubbo and working on major projects, they show how determination and hands-on talent can inspire more women to pursue in-demand construction careers.
Thanks for reading,
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Alex
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