Latest news with #Acciona
Global News
a day ago
- Business
- Global News
Court turfs Metro Vancouver attempt to delay sewage plant legal battle
A B.C. Supreme Court judge has denied Metro Vancouver's attempt to delay an ongoing legal battle with Acciona, the former contractor of the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant. The North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant is an estimated $3 billion over budget. Metro Vancouver blames the disaster on contractor Acciona, which it fired. Acciona maintains that Metro Vancouver's failure to deliver on its obligations prompted their $250 million damage claim. 1:59 Fired wastewater plant contractor fires back at Metro Vancouver In a July 2024 interview, Metro Vancouver's CAO said Acciona had failed to deliver. Story continues below advertisement Jerry Dobrovolny said, 'One of the difficulties we have is we're locked in litigation with our previous contractor, who we let go for not delivering on what was contracted'. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy In his ruling, Justice Bruce Elwood stated, 'I am persuaded that there is a real risk to Acciona of a loss of evidence if the adjournment is granted' and 'if the trial is adjourned, there will be a further three-and-a-half-year delay … For these reasons, the application to adjourn the trial is dismissed.' Elwood also ruled that Metro Vancouver 'is a sophisticated litigant represented by one of the leading law firms in the country. The resources required to litigate this case on the current schedule are not disproportionate to the amount of money involved.' 2:43 Wastewater treatment plant debacle Metro Vancouver told Global News, 'Acciona has produced nearly four million documents, an extraordinarily large document production that disrupts the usual flow of the litigation process.' Story continues below advertisement The regional district added that it 'respects Justice Elwood's decision and will continue to work diligently to prepare for the March 2027 trial date.' Acciona responded, 'We welcome the court decision and will continue to work towards a timely resolution. Acciona remains committed to full transparency and a full review of this project by the court.'
Vancouver Sun
2 days ago
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Metro Vancouver loses bid to delay sewage plant court case as millions of documents strain legal team
The B.C. Supreme Court has rejected Metro Vancouver's request to postpone a multimillion-dollar trial in the lawsuit over North Shore's new sewage-treatment project. Justice Bruce Elwood said in a ruling that Metro Vancouver did not provide compelling evidence to justify postponing the start of the trial from March 1, 2027 to no earlier than Sept. 1, 2028. 'I am not persuaded … that an adjournment is necessary in the interests of justice to ensure that there is a fair trial on the merits of the action,' Elwood wrote. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The sewage district had said 'it cannot be ready for a trial in the one year and 10 months that remain before the trial date, and that an adjournment of 1½ years is necessary to ensure that it receives a fair trial.' Spanish multinational Acciona is seeking $250 million in damages after Metro Vancouver cancelled its contract to build the wastewater treatment plant. Metro is countersuing for $1 billion. The contract was cancelled in January 2022 after construction had begun. PCL Constructors West Coast Inc. was hired to complete the project, which was supposed to cost $700 million but has ballooned to more than $3.8 billion. It is expected to be complete in 2030. Acciona says it was not possible to design and build the project on the provided site without significant changes. The company also says Metro Vancouver failed to make some payments and refused to acknowledge problems with the original contract. Elwood wrote that he understood that trial preparation was straining the resources of the district's legal team, but said it had not shown 'anything improper or entirely unforeseeable about the scale or complexity of this litigation. Metro Vancouver 'is a sophisticated litigant represented by one of the leading law firms in the country. The resources required to litigate this case on the current schedule are not disproportionate to the amount of money involved, the importance of the issues, or the complexity of the proceedings,' the judge wrote, adding the district may have to devote more resources to the lawsuit. 'However, I am not persuaded at this time that its right to a fair trial is in jeopardy.' Metro Vancouver has not disclosed how much the legal case is costing taxpayers. Elwood wrote that one reason he did not want the trial delayed was because human memory will be a key issue. 'There is a real risk to Acciona of a loss of evidence if the adjournment is granted, which would cause non‑compensable prejudice to Acciona's right to fair trial.' He wrote it has been three years since Metro terminated Acciona's contract, four to 5½ years since the events leading to the termination, six years since the contract was negotiated, and 10 years since the project went to tender. 'If the trial is adjourned, there will be a further 3½-year delay before the witnesses can start to provide their testimony.' He wrote that of Acciona's potential witness list, one has died, three have retired, 13 are unavailable due to health or work restrictions, 30 have left Acciona, 40 don't live in Vancouver, and 20 are close to retirement. Elwood also addressed document disclosure related to the trial. So far, Acciona has produced close to four million documents, while Metro Vancouver has produced 200,000. Metro says it was surprised by the 'sheer number of documents' Acciona produced, while Acciona says it was surprised by the 'paucity of the documents' that Metro produced, Elwood wrote. Metro says its resources are 'being depleted by the document‑review process, thereby impacting its ability to prepare for trial,' the judge wrote. 'There are unquestionably irrelevant and duplicate documents in Acciona's production. However, I do not agree with the assertion … that there are hundreds of thousands of irrelevant documents. In my view, that assertion by (Metro) is based on a misunderstanding of Acciona's evidence of the precision rate of the artificial intelligence model it used to review the documents.' The treatment plant is to replace the Lions Gate facility that provides only primary level wastewater treatment. It is being built between Philip and Pemberton avenues in North Vancouver. It will serve 300,000 residents and be paid for from residential utility rates. For example, households in North Vancouver are expected to pay an additional $590 a year. dcarrigg@
The Age
2 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Beneath Sydney, a mini-city is being dug for machines bigger than an aircraft fuselage
Deep under an inner-city Sydney suburb, two giant caverns each large enough to house an A380 superjumbo's fuselage and tail are being carved out of sandstone. About 120 metres long, 26 metres high and 18 metres wide, the caverns illustrate the monumental scale of the task confronting engineers and other workers as they prepare to dig two motorway tunnels under Sydney Harbour between Birchgrove and Waverton. For the last decade, Sydney has become accustomed to tunnelling for metro train lines. Yet, two giant tunnelling machines to be shipped in parts from China later this year will dwarf those that completed Sydney's first under-harbour rail crossing early this decade and are now worming their way under the city for the Metro West rail line between the central city and Parramatta. At about 16 metres in diameter, the tunnel boring machines for the $7 billion Western Harbour Tunnel will be the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. The twin three-lane wide motorway tunnels will each be large enough to fit four metro rail tunnels. While the project is the envy of tunnellers around the world, Transport for NSW project director Simon Cooper said the planned under-harbour crossing was 'very, very complicated technically'. 'We're building little cities underground that nobody is ever going to see that will enable our project. And when all the work's done, we will pack it away,' he said. 'When you are abroad, you hear about Sydney Harbour; you hear about the bridge. An opportunity to go under a harbour as a tunneller is ... something any tunneller around the world wants to do.' Like mobile factories, each of the boring machines will house up to 20 workers at any one time. Spanish contractor Acciona will operate the machines around the clock, slicing through about 55 metres of rock and sediment a week. Making the project more challenging, the machines will be assembled in the tight confines of the so-called launch chambers beneath Birchgrove before starting their 1.5-kilometre journey early next year under the harbour towards Waverton. Excavation equipment known as road-headers with large rotating cutting heads began chiselling away at sandstone deep beneath an oval and several houses in February to create the launch chambers, which are due to be completed by the end of the year. Cooper said it was hard enough assembling boring machines above ground where cranes could move freely, let alone in a tight space underground. In fact, the team decided to add extra height to the chambers to avoid regrets lifting parts when the assembly begins. 'It is a factory down there because not only are we having to assemble and have these big cranes in there, we then also have piping that goes backwards and forwards to our slurry treatment plants,' he explained. After a practice assembly in a Chinese warehouse, the parts that will make up the boring machines will arrive by ship at Glebe Island in coming months. Once offloaded, they will cover most of the waterfront area seen by motorists as they cross Anzac Bridge. When the assembly starts early next year, two 400-tonne bearings – equivalent to 200 cars – will have to be lifted into the caverns by gantry cranes. The bearings will hold the cutter heads to each of the machines, allowing them to spin. Highlighting the task ahead, the boring machines will have to tunnel through a portion of alluvial fill – a mixture of clay, silt and sand – under the harbour. Before they reach one of the riskiest parts of the tunnelling, up to 47 metres below the harbour surface, the giant machines will temporarily stop for a 'freshen up', which will include changing teeth on the cutter heads. Once they resume churning through the alluvial fill, the priority will be to ensure the machines do not stop. Engineers want to avoid them getting stuck like a boring machine did under the Snowy Mountains for the federal government's multibillion-dollar pumped-hydro project. 'That's something that causes me worry, which is getting stuck under the harbour because there's only one way to then get to it, which is then sinking something down,' Cooper explained. 'If something gets stuck or wears out, then you don't want to be going and trying to fix things in that bad ground because it's dangerous for people, and it's usually under pressure.' During tunnelling for the M1 metro rail line under the harbour in 2019, bubbles rose to the water surface directly above a giant tunnelling machine, alarming senior transport officials who feared that one of the tunnels had been damaged, and possibly breached. However, it quickly turned out to be vibrations from the boring machine that had disturbed air pockets within sediment on the harbour floor. Heralding from Hong Kong, Cooper is no stranger to mega projects having worked in the UK on schemes such as the second stage of the Channel Tunnel rail link before moving in 2008 to Australia where he has been involved with Sydney's rail projects and the WestConnex motorway. 'Going under the harbour is a big risk for us, especially in such a large machine. The ground conditions are not ideal. We're doing everything possible to make sure that [from the tunnel boring] selection through to how we're working ... that we can do it safely,' he said. The use of boring machines represents a major U-turn on earlier plans. The previous NSW Coalition government decided to dig deeper tunnels for the main section of the motorway between Birchgrove and Waverton, ditching plans to lay large tubes in a trench on the harbour floor. At the peak of construction, about 500 people will be working underground at any one time. Apart from underground offices, about five support centres complete with kitchen facilities provide respite for workers during their breaks. 'Tunnel environments are noisy. They have got somewhere comfortable to sit and have a real break,' said delivery director Dean McAllister, who worked on the $2.6 billion Sydney Gateway motorway and the NorthConnex tunnel. Two other chambers each about 42 metres long and 25 metres high have already been excavated for the under-harbour crossing. One of them will house a slurry treatment plant, and the other filter pressers and centrifuges to remove water in the soil. As the boring machines burrow their way under the harbour, slurry will be pumped into their cutter heads to counteract pressure. The circulating slurry will be mixed with the excavated material and pumped back to the treatment plant. After the borers complete their job, the two giant chambers will be used to house ventilation fans to circulate air through the motorway tunnels. Loading Inside the tunnels and caverns already carved out for the project's first stage, it is noisy and humid as workers, diggers and other excavation equipment navigate the underground world. Cross passages are situated at regular intervals along the twin tunnels, which extend to a spaghetti junction at Rozelle for WestConnex. Trucks queue in the tunnels to collect spoil before emerging above ground to take their loads to development sites across the city. 'It's busier than Trafalgar Square. There are so many different things going on down there,' Cooper said. On the north side of the harbour, road headers are churning through rock as they race south towards the Waverton peninsula. Once they reach it, two giant chambers each 38 metres long and 23 metres high will be dug out over a six-month period next year. The so-called receival chambers represent the finish line for the boring machines where they will connect the tunnels from the north to the south. After they break through under Waverton, they will be pulled apart, and most pieces lifted to the surface to be used again. However, their cutter heads will be entombed in concrete in what will literally form burial chambers about 48 metres beneath the peninsula. Loading Spanning 6.5 kilometres, the Western Harbour Tunnel is due to be completed in 2028, four years before the centenary of the Harbour Bridge's opening. The new harbour crossing will provide motorists with a bypass to the western side of the Sydney CBD, linking the Warringah Freeway on the north shore to WestConnex in the south. 'It's amazing engineering, but actually this project is all about connecting Sydney,' Cooper said.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Beneath Sydney, a mini-city is being dug for machines bigger than an aircraft fuselage
Deep under an inner-city Sydney suburb, two giant caverns each large enough to house an A380 superjumbo's fuselage and tail are being carved out of sandstone. About 120 metres long, 26 metres high and 18 metres wide, the caverns illustrate the monumental scale of the task confronting engineers and other workers as they prepare to dig two motorway tunnels under Sydney Harbour between Birchgrove and Waverton. For the last decade, Sydney has become accustomed to tunnelling for metro train lines. Yet, two giant tunnelling machines to be shipped in parts from China later this year will dwarf those that completed Sydney's first under-harbour rail crossing early this decade and are now worming their way under the city for the Metro West rail line between the central city and Parramatta. At about 16 metres in diameter, the tunnel boring machines for the $7 billion Western Harbour Tunnel will be the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. The twin three-lane wide motorway tunnels will each be large enough to fit four metro rail tunnels. While the project is the envy of tunnellers around the world, Transport for NSW project director Simon Cooper said the planned under-harbour crossing was 'very, very complicated technically'. 'We're building little cities underground that nobody is ever going to see that will enable our project. And when all the work's done, we will pack it away,' he said. 'When you are abroad, you hear about Sydney Harbour; you hear about the bridge. An opportunity to go under a harbour as a tunneller is ... something any tunneller around the world wants to do.' Like mobile factories, each of the boring machines will house up to 20 workers at any one time. Spanish contractor Acciona will operate the machines around the clock, slicing through about 55 metres of rock and sediment a week. Making the project more challenging, the machines will be assembled in the tight confines of the so-called launch chambers beneath Birchgrove before starting their 1.5-kilometre journey early next year under the harbour towards Waverton. Excavation equipment known as road-headers with large rotating cutting heads began chiselling away at sandstone deep beneath an oval and several houses in February to create the launch chambers, which are due to be completed by the end of the year. Cooper said it was hard enough assembling boring machines above ground where cranes could move freely, let alone in a tight space underground. In fact, the team decided to add extra height to the chambers to avoid regrets lifting parts when the assembly begins. 'It is a factory down there because not only are we having to assemble and have these big cranes in there, we then also have piping that goes backwards and forwards to our slurry treatment plants,' he explained. After a practice assembly in a Chinese warehouse, the parts that will make up the boring machines will arrive by ship at Glebe Island in coming months. Once offloaded, they will cover most of the waterfront area seen by motorists as they cross Anzac Bridge. When the assembly starts early next year, two 400-tonne bearings – equivalent to 200 cars – will have to be lifted into the caverns by gantry cranes. The bearings will hold the cutter heads to each of the machines, allowing them to spin. Highlighting the task ahead, the boring machines will have to tunnel through a portion of alluvial fill – a mixture of clay, silt and sand – under the harbour. Before they reach one of the riskiest parts of the tunnelling, up to 47 metres below the harbour surface, the giant machines will temporarily stop for a 'freshen up', which will include changing teeth on the cutter heads. Once they resume churning through the alluvial fill, the priority will be to ensure the machines do not stop. Engineers want to avoid them getting stuck like a boring machine did under the Snowy Mountains for the federal government's multibillion-dollar pumped-hydro project. 'That's something that causes me worry, which is getting stuck under the harbour because there's only one way to then get to it, which is then sinking something down,' Cooper explained. 'If something gets stuck or wears out, then you don't want to be going and trying to fix things in that bad ground because it's dangerous for people, and it's usually under pressure.' During tunnelling for the M1 metro rail line under the harbour in 2019, bubbles rose to the water surface directly above a giant tunnelling machine, alarming senior transport officials who feared that one of the tunnels had been damaged, and possibly breached. However, it quickly turned out to be vibrations from the boring machine that had disturbed air pockets within sediment on the harbour floor. Heralding from Hong Kong, Cooper is no stranger to mega projects having worked in the UK on schemes such as the second stage of the Channel Tunnel rail link before moving in 2008 to Australia where he has been involved with Sydney's rail projects and the WestConnex motorway. 'Going under the harbour is a big risk for us, especially in such a large machine. The ground conditions are not ideal. We're doing everything possible to make sure that [from the tunnel boring] selection through to how we're working ... that we can do it safely,' he said. The use of boring machines represents a major U-turn on earlier plans. The previous NSW Coalition government decided to dig deeper tunnels for the main section of the motorway between Birchgrove and Waverton, ditching plans to lay large tubes in a trench on the harbour floor. At the peak of construction, about 500 people will be working underground at any one time. Apart from underground offices, about five support centres complete with kitchen facilities provide respite for workers during their breaks. 'Tunnel environments are noisy. They have got somewhere comfortable to sit and have a real break,' said delivery director Dean McAllister, who worked on the $2.6 billion Sydney Gateway motorway and the NorthConnex tunnel. Two other chambers each about 42 metres long and 25 metres high have already been excavated for the under-harbour crossing. One of them will house a slurry treatment plant, and the other filter pressers and centrifuges to remove water in the soil. As the boring machines burrow their way under the harbour, slurry will be pumped into their cutter heads to counteract pressure. The circulating slurry will be mixed with the excavated material and pumped back to the treatment plant. After the borers complete their job, the two giant chambers will be used to house ventilation fans to circulate air through the motorway tunnels. Loading Inside the tunnels and caverns already carved out for the project's first stage, it is noisy and humid as workers, diggers and other excavation equipment navigate the underground world. Cross passages are situated at regular intervals along the twin tunnels, which extend to a spaghetti junction at Rozelle for WestConnex. Trucks queue in the tunnels to collect spoil before emerging above ground to take their loads to development sites across the city. 'It's busier than Trafalgar Square. There are so many different things going on down there,' Cooper said. On the north side of the harbour, road headers are churning through rock as they race south towards the Waverton peninsula. Once they reach it, two giant chambers each 38 metres long and 23 metres high will be dug out over a six-month period next year. The so-called receival chambers represent the finish line for the boring machines where they will connect the tunnels from the north to the south. After they break through under Waverton, they will be pulled apart, and most pieces lifted to the surface to be used again. However, their cutter heads will be entombed in concrete in what will literally form burial chambers about 48 metres beneath the peninsula. Loading Spanning 6.5 kilometres, the Western Harbour Tunnel is due to be completed in 2028, four years before the centenary of the Harbour Bridge's opening. The new harbour crossing will provide motorists with a bypass to the western side of the Sydney CBD, linking the Warringah Freeway on the north shore to WestConnex in the south. 'It's amazing engineering, but actually this project is all about connecting Sydney,' Cooper said.
Associated Press
27-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Assured Guaranty Guarantees €96 Million Project Financing Loan for Spain's A-127 Aragon Regional Road
PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 27, 2025-- Assured Guaranty (Europe) SA (AGE)*, an indirect subsidiary of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (together with its subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty), announced that it has guaranteed principal and interest payments on a €96 million loan to Sociedad Concesionaria 5 Villas, S.A., ('SC5') an entity owned by Acciona Concesiones, S.L. and Papsa Infraestructuras S.A. The 23-year, fixed-rate loan guaranteed by AGE bearing a 3.65% coupon was provided by Bankinter, S.A., Kutxabank S.A., and Unicaja Banco S.A. Bondholders S.L. will act as security agent and financial guarantee trustee. The proceeds will be used to finance the construction of sections of the A-127 roadway. The project includes the expansion of a 24-kilometer roadway between the municipalities of Tauste and Ejea de los Caballeros, as well as the full renovation of a 14-kilometer stretch between Tauste and Gallur. Raphael de Tapol, Directeur Général of AGE, commented: 'This PPP transaction shows the value of our guarantee to major infrastructure sponsors seeking to issue cost-effective long-term debt for essential public sector infrastructure projects. The Aragon A-127 road project, which is part of the Aragon Regional Road Network Investment Plan, stimulates the local economy and provides the region with tangible societal benefits, improved connectivity and enhanced safety. We are proud to guarantee this financing for a project that reflects the best of public-private cooperation in the Spanish market.' Raul Serrano, Managing Director, Infrastructure Finance of AGE, commented: 'The successful close of this project marks a significant milestone, not only for AGE, but also for the broader banking and investment sector in Spain. It demonstrates the value of our financial guarantee for lenders. We are especially pleased to have worked alongside these three banks and look forward to opportunities to work together in the future.' Domiciled in Paris, AGE is Assured Guaranty's financial guarantee business in continental Europe. AGE is rated AA by S&P Global Ratings and AA+ by Kroll Bond Rating Agency. AGE's legal adviser on the transaction was Linklaters LLP in London and Madrid. Kenta Capital acted as financial adviser to SC5. Bankinter, S.A. acted as lead arranger in the transaction. IMPORTANT NOTICE All of the securities have been sold, and this announcement is for information purposes only. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended ('Securities Act'), or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or jurisdiction of the United States, and may not be offered, sold or transferred, directly or indirectly, in the United States absent registration under the Securities Act or an available exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States. *AGE is an insurance company registered in the Paris Trade and Companies Register (company number 852 597 384), authorised and regulated by the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR), and governed by the French Insurance Code. AGE is a subsidiary of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (AGL and, together with its subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty). Through its subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty provides credit enhancement products to the U.S. and non-U.S. public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. Assured Guaranty also participates in the asset management business through its ownership interest in Sound Point Capital Management, LP and certain of its investment management affiliates. AGL is a publicly traded (NYSE: AGO), Bermuda-based holding company. More information on AGL and its subsidiaries can be found at: Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Any forward-looking statements made in this press release reflect AGL's current views with respect to future events and are made pursuant to the safe harbour provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in these statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, difficulties executing Assured Guaranty's business strategy; the demand for Assured Guaranty's financial guarantees; adverse developments in Assured Guaranty's guaranteed portfolio; actions that the rating agencies may take at any time with respect to any of AGL's insurance subsidiaries' financial strength ratings, and/or of any securities AGL or any of its subsidiaries have issued and/or of transactions that AGL's insurance subsidiaries have insured; other risks and uncertainties that have not been identified at this time; management's response to these factors; and other risk factors identified in AGL's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are made as of May 27, 2025. Assured Guaranty undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. View source version on CONTACT: Investor Relations: Robert Tucker, +1 212-339-0861 Senior Managing Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications [email protected]: Ashweeta Durani, +1 212-408-6042 Director, Corporate Communications [email protected] KEYWORD: NEW YORK SPAIN NORTH AMERICA FRANCE UNITED STATES EUROPE INDUSTRY KEYWORD: CONSTRUCTION & PROPERTY INSURANCE FINANCE OTHER TRANSPORT PROFESSIONAL SERVICES URBAN PLANNING OTHER CONSTRUCTION & PROPERTY TRANSPORT SOURCE: Assured Guaranty Ltd. Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 05/27/2025 12:30 AM/DISC: 05/27/2025 12:29 AM
