Weekly quiz: How do you move 713-tonne church? | What needs fixing on Verrazzano Narrows Bridge? | Strabag goes modular

1) Skanska has secured a US$249 million contract with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority for work on the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. What will the project involve?

• Replacing the bridge’s suspension cables with new corrosion-resistant steel.
• Designing and installing a main cable dehumidification system, acoustic monitoring, and associated infrastructure, plus five years of maintenance.
• Widening the bridge’s spans and adding a dedicated bus lane.

2) In Sweden, the 713-tonne wooden Kiruna Church has been relocated because of ground subsidence from iron ore mining. How was the move carried out?

• The entire church was transported intact on a specially built trailer, travelling 5km at about 500 metres per hour, with the process livestreamed and accompanied by public events.
• The church has been dismantled into sections and reassembled near Kiruna’s new city centre, with no public access to the move.
• A replica church is being built 3 km away while the original remains in place due to structural fragility.

3) Germany’s housing construction sector continues to struggle amid what’s described as a “pincer grip” situation. Which pair of pressures characterises this challenge?

• Low citizen demand and an oversupply of new housing.
• Soaring construction costs and limited new work orders.
• Rapid technological disruption and an influx of unskilled migrant labour.

4) Strabag, the Austria based contractor, has launched a new modular housing product named TETRIQX to address urban housing challenges. What are the key sustainability benefits the company claims it offers?

• It cuts life-cycle CO₂ emissions by up to 50% and reduces operational heating and cooling energy needs by at least 22%.
• It reduces material usage by 25%, halves transportation emissions, and achieves certification for zero-energy operation.
• It enables carbon-neutral construction by using only recycled steel and offers full onsite renewables.

5) In the UK, JSM Group has developed a patented system known as NICE (Non Intrusive Cable Extraction) for decommissioning underground power cables. What is the principal innovation of this method?

• It uses robotic tunnelling to install a new conduit and then extracts the cable in segments.
• It eliminates continuous trenching by extracting the cable through small entry and exit pits, reducing excavation by 80–90%.
• It melts the surrounding soil with plasma to liquefy around the cable and pull it out intact.

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