Australia: Acciona has opened a precast concrete plant to serve the Western Harbour Tunnel at Boral’s Emu Plains site in New South Wales. The plant will supply 13,000 precast concrete segments and 1400 culverts for the project, adding up to 90,000m3 in total volume. Boral will operate an adjacent 120m3/hr ready-mix concrete batching plant to serve the precast plant.
The Emu Plains site operated as an aggregates quarry, serving Sydney, between 1883 and 2014.
UK: Admixture and mortars producer Oscrete has acquired waterproofing company Pudlo, following the latter’s rescue from administration in 2024. Existing owner UK Property Repair Group, which led the rescue, will retain a 25% stake. Pudlo supplies structural waterproofing and gas protection systems for below-ground structures, swimming pools and podium decks.
Pudlo Managing Director Gary Laird says that the change of ownership will provide enhanced opportunities for innovation and growth, and choice for its customers.
UK: Graphene-enhanced concrete admixture developer Concretene has extended its partnership with the University of Manchester’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) to continue to use its facilities until mid-2028. The company says that this will enable it to scale production of its Concretene admixture. It has expanded its production and testing facility at the GEIC in readiness.
The addition of Concretene admixture raises compressive strength by up to 50% in ready-mix concrete and by 15 – 20% in precast concrete. It has been used in railway sleepers produced by Cemex UK.
Concretene commands €2.19m in UK government funding and €6.92m in venture capital investment.
Kyrgyzstan: China-based Hua Rui has begun to build an autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) block plant in Chui region. The project is scheduled for delivery by May 2030. When operational, the plant will serve the domestic market and also expand Kyrgyzstan's export potential. The Kyrgyz National Investment Agency has reported that the project commands funding from both Hua Rui and the government of Kyrgyzstan.
