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🌍 CEFS Weekly Briefing | May 25, 2025

🌍 CEFS Weekly Briefing | May 25, 2025

Keeping you informed, engaged, and excited about the future of the built environment.

Luke Boustead
May 26, 2025

🌍 CEFS Weekly Briefing | 26 May 2025
Keeping you informed, engaged, and excited about the future of the built environment.

🎯 Weekly Theme: Smart Resilience

From climate-proof infrastructure in Mauritania to AI-driven material optimisation in Europe, this week’s stories reveal a shift: resilience isn’t just about enduring — it’s about evolving. Delivery teams and leaders alike are being asked to design smarter, stronger, and faster than ever before.

🔧 Action point: Lead with adaptability. When risks are rising, agility in design and delivery becomes your strongest asset.

🚀 The engineers who thrive tomorrow are already building resilience today.

🌪️ Climate Resilience & Risk

Texas Flood Insurance Gap Widens (Flood Risk): A new report warns that rising flood risk in Texas has exposed a widening insurance gap, leaving millions of properties unprotected. Only ~7% of homes statewide have flood coverage, highlighting an urgent need for climate resilience measures.
Engineers Aid Tornado Recovery in Missouri (Emergency Relief): Following a destructive tornado on May 16 in St. Louis, the Missouri National Guard is deploying 41 members of its 35th Engineer Brigade to assist with debris removal and emergency repairs.
Climate-Proof Water Project in Mauritania (Infrastructure Aid): The African Development Bank approved $18 million for Mauritania’s “3R-Water” initiative to build climate-resilient water and sanitation systems in drought-prone regions.
Dubai Stormwater Tunnel Announced (Flood Risk): Authorities unveiled plans for a Dh150 million stormwater tunnel in Dubai South, aiming to protect the logistics hub from future flooding and support regional growth.

🏗️ Construction Trends & Delivery

East Africa’s Longest Bridge Completed (Bridge Infrastructure): Tanzania has completed the $260 million John Magufuli Bridge, a 4.7 km structure across Lake Victoria that enhances regional mobility and trade.
Belgium Reverses Nuclear Phase-Out (Energy Policy): A major policy pivot allows existing nuclear reactors to stay online, reflecting renewed focus on energy security and decarbonisation.
Singapore Restarts Changi Terminal 5 (Aviation Delivery): Work resumes on Singapore’s $3.5 billion airport terminal, paused during COVID — a major step in Asia’s aviation recovery.
Vancouver’s Artificial Port Island Advances (Global Ports): RFQs go out for a 320-acre man-made island to expand Canada’s port infrastructure and container capacity.

🔌 Energy Systems Under Strain

First Nations Partner on SMR Project (Nuclear Energy): A pioneering agreement between Westinghouse and two Indigenous communities will deliver a 300 MW small modular reactor in New Brunswick, combining clean power with economic inclusion.

🧠 AI & Automation in Practice

AI Startup Targets Low-Carbon Concrete (Startup Funding): Converge raised $22 million to expand “ConcreteDNA”, its AI-powered platform that monitors concrete curing and cuts emissions by up to 40%.
GCHQ Warns on Infrastructure AI Risks (Cyber Resilience): The UK’s intelligence agency highlights growing cyber threats to infrastructure as AI tools become more embedded in design and operations.
US Fast-Tracks AI Power Support (Energy Delivery): Sixteen federal sites are being developed to support the data centres and generation needs of AI technologies.

🌍 Infrastructure for Net Zero

Chinese Solar Inverters Raise Alarm (Energy Security): Undocumented communication modules found in imported solar inverters have triggered investigations into potential cyber risks in renewable energy systems.
Mumbai’s Sponge City Strategy (Urban Resilience): India’s financial capital is piloting a combination of wetlands, parks and drains to mitigate urban flood risk and heat stress.

🚇 Infrastructure in Motion

Direct UK-Switzerland Rail Talks Begin (Cross-Border Mobility): Government agencies are exploring a direct rail link via the Channel Tunnel — early stage, but symbolically powerful.
Rail Revival Gains Momentum in US (Ridership): Services like Amtrak Borealis are hitting record highs, signalling renewed demand for long-distance passenger rail.

💡 Strategy, Leadership & Reform

Mott MacDonald Urges Wider Pay Gap Transparency (EDI & Accountability): A leading voice in equity calls for firms to report not just gender but disability and ethnicity pay gaps.
ICE Launches Megaproject Review Consultation (Governance): Engineers are invited to help shape ICE’s strategy to tackle delay and cost risk on large-scale infrastructure.
Bangkok Collapse Triggers Arrests (Safety Reform): Seventeen people face legal action after a high-rise building collapsed during an earthquake — the only structure in the city to fail.