According to site Constructiondigital, a 50-year, multibillion-euro concession contract between French railway infrastructure manager Reseau Ferre de France (RFF) and construction company Vinci set in motion the construction of one of the world's largest infrastructure projects launched in the past decade. This is France's biggest public-private partnership in the railway sector. The new South Europe Atlantic high-speed rail project is one of the largest the world has seen in a decade. The planned South Europe Atlantic high-speed rail (SEA HSR) will span about 188 miles and link the French cities of Tours and Bordeaux. Currently, travel between the cities takes about three hours and five minutes, but the new rail link will cut that time down to just over two hours. "Gaining an hour on the journey time will allow us to take a good slice of the current air travel market and carry four million extra passengers a year," said RFF Chief Executive Hubert du Mesnil. Construction on the SEA HSR will begin early next year and it is expected to take five years to complete production. It will include approximately 24 miles of connecting line to the conventional rail network. About 1,300 construction jobs and 150 permanent operation and maintenance jobs will be created for the project. Created in 1899 by French engineers Alexandre Giros and Louis Loucheur, Vinci has become the largest company in construction and related services worldwide. VINCI is the world leader in concessions and construction, employing close to 180,000 people in some 100 countries. Vinci and its predecessor companies has been involved in many major projects including the Gariep Dam completed in 1971, the Tour Montparnasse completed in 1972, the new visitor entrance to the Louvre completed in 1989, the Channel Tunnel completed in 1994, the Stade de France completed in 1998 and the Rio-Antirio bridge, completed in 2004.

St Paul's Cathedral, one of Britain's most spectacular buildings, has been fully restored to its glory as a 15-year renovation finally came to an end, reported news.yahoo.com. For the first time for years, Londoners were able to see the historic building without the hindrance of scaffolding. St Paul's, which sits atop Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London financial district, is the capital's architectural centrepiece and dominated the skyline before the era of tower blocks. The US$ 58 million restoration project, one of the largest ever undertaken in Britain, has been completed in time to mark the giant cathedral's 300th anniversary. What has been the first comprehensive restoration of the cathedral began in summer 1996. Work has included landscaping the South Churchyard gardens, restoring the Grand Organ and adding wheelchair access to the crypt and Whispering and South Triforium Galleries. Throughout, the bells peeled and services were uninterrupted. The smoke and filth of three centuries of London pollution had left the exterior blackened and damaged, but this has now been completely cleaned. More than 150,000 blocks of Portland stone were restored. Designed by Christopher Wren and built in grey Portland limestone, like many of London's most significant buildings, the Renaissance-style cathedral took 36 years to complete. It replaced the previous St Paul's, built by the Normans, which was gutted in the 1666 Great Fire of London. Construction of this great building was completed in 1711. The funerals of wartime heroes the Duke of Wellington, Horatio Nelson and Winston Churchill took place there, as did the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer.

Damac Properties, a leading real estate developer, has commenced main construction works at its US$ 138.3 million residential development at Dubai Marina. Leading construction company Arabtec, which was awarded the main construction contract, is now on site following the completion of enabling works by Zetas Foundation Technology. The 420 meters tall, 85-storey Damac Heights will comprise one, two and three bedroom apartments, as well as duplexes and penthouses, and have views of the Palm Jumeirah. The complex will incorporate five star amenities including a temperature controlled swimming pool, gymnasium, nursery, sauna, steam room and spa facilities, a statement said. "Damac Heights will be another shining jewel along the beachfront real estate band on Al Sufouh Road, Dubai Marina. This two kilometre stretch of land is home to some of the most exclusive and luxurious residential properties ever constructed, and of these real estate gems, Damac Heights will shine the brightest" said Niall Mc Loughlin, senior vice president, Damac Properties. "To impress in Dubai these days, developers are aware they need to go to the next level. It's not enough to build a nice apartment building in a mediocre location. You have to build a phenomenal building, in a prestigious location with every conceivable modern convenience included. That's what we are aiming to achieve with Damac Heights," Mc Loughlin added. Damac Heights will represent the second partnership between Arabtec and Damac Properties at Dubai Marina. It follows the completion of the award winning 84-storey residential tower 'Ocean Heights' last year. Damac Properties was established in 2002 and has already completed 28 buildings to date with 6045 units and spanning 986 580.9 square meters with projects in Dubai. Before the end of this year Damac Properties will complete a further 8 buildings comprising 1,329 units spanning 233 466.0 square meters.

As reported by news agency Reuters, the building of the 12,000-seat basketball arena for the London 2012 Olympics has been completed. The temporary stadium took 15 months to build and is the fourth venue at the Olympic Park to be finished, with a test event to be held there in August. The 115 meters long and 35 meters high, the white-clad arena is one of the largest temporary venues ever used for an Olympic Games and will be dismantled afterwards to be reused elsewhere. Building began in October 2009, with work to erect the 1,000-tonne steel frame starting in March 2010. The venue, completed on budget (US$ 69 billion), will hold the Olympic Park's first test event when six top men's teams (Britain, Australia, China, Croatia, France and Serbia) play in an International Invitational tournament from August 16-21. Other Olympic Park venues already finished are the main stadium, the velodrome and the handball arena.

According to Arabian business, Dubai, the Gulf business hub where property prices continue to decline, cancelled 217 property projects in the past two years. The Real Estate Regulatory Authority reviewed more than 450 projects and expects 237 of them to be completed "in due course," according to information contained in the Dubai government's bond prospectus. The total value of property sale transactions plunged to US$ 32.6 billion at the end of last year from US$ 41.7 billion a year earlier. Residential property prices in Dubai, the worst-performing market in the Middle East for the past three years, haven't yet benefited from political turmoil in other parts of the region, Deutsche Bank AG said last week. Home values declined 1.2 percent in May from the previous month and rents fell by 1 percent, according to the bank. Apartment prices dropped 1.3 percent and villas lost 1 percent. "Despite talks of renewed interest in real estate following regional unrest, there is no visible sign of an improvement," the analysts wrote. "Even if we believe the worst of the downtrend is now behind, new supply, lack of homebuyers' appetite and anemic transaction activity point to further weakness."