Balfour Beatty plc, the international infrastructure group, said that its UK order book has contracted in its latest trading update published this morning.

Thames Water has published a guide to the types of compensation it will be making available as a result of its proposals for the Tideway Tunnel “supersewer” – including the ultimate option of compulsory purchase.

Pressure is building on Thames Water to extend their super sewer consultation - the Mayor of London has written to the Water Minister, Richard Benyon MP, asking him to ‘instruct Thames Water to extend the consultation period to the end of March 2012’.

A new report from the UK’s leading water organisation  has flagged up tension between increasing environmental water quality standards that provide “questionable benefit to customers” and the energy – and carbon emissions – that water companies must use in order to meet them.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has referred the recently completed acquisition of Cambridge Water PLC by South Staffordshire Plc to the Competition Commission .

Thames Water has opted for early contractor involvement (ECI) on a major new scheme to upgrade its Deephams sewage treatment works.

In its latest trading update issued this morning, Costain said it had finished the year with an increased forward order book of £2.5 billion (2010: £2.4 billion), which included in excess of £650 million of work secured for 2012 and over £1.8 billion of revenue secured for 2013 and beyond.

UK construction output is forecast to fall by more than 5% next year and remain flat throughout 2013 according to the latest forecasts published by the Construction Products Association.

The Enviroment Agency has sought advice from the Infrastructure Planning Commission about whether possible linked flood defence schemes for the Lower Thames could collectively become a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.