CELEBRATING 80 YEARS OF THE CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYERS FEDERATION
Eighty years of supporting Northern Ireland’s construction sector THE CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYERS FEDERATION HAS SERVED AS THE INDUSTRY’S VOICE THROUGHOUT EIGHT DECADES OF REBUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE AND INVESTING IN THE FUTURE…
The origins of the Construction Employers Federation trace back to the late 19th century, but its official founding came in the wake of the Belfast Blitz, as the construction industry united to re-build the nation’s cities and towns. The Federation of Building Trade Employers of Northern Ireland was established in 1945, with James P Graham as its first president and Myles Witham as managing director. One of its first achievements was the introduction of a Construction Holiday Pay Scheme. After the war, one of the key priorities was to rebuild housing. The Northern Ireland Housing Trust estimated that 100,000 new homes were needed to meet the region’s need. The second priority was production, and the 1945 Industrial Development Act provided incentives for building new factories. Connectivity for trade was also key, and a lynchpin of this was Belfast
Harbour. In Larne, a new pier increased the size of the harbour to accommodate an increase in traffic and goods. The mid-1950s was a period of major and transformational investment in infrastructure in Northern Ireland, including buildings, roads and hospitals. Road infrastructure was pivotal to bringing Northern Ireland to life. In 1959, the Sydenham Bypass was finally opened to traffic, 21 years after work began. It was modelled on the German Autobahn of the time. McAlpine won the contract to take the M1 Motorway from Belfast towards Dunmurry and on towards Lisburn. Major hospitals were developed and, in 1960, Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry~Londonderry was the first major hospital built post-war in the UK, by McLaughlin & Harvey. Meanwhile, the Ulster Hospital, which had been destroyed during the war,
was rebuilt under the new national health service, and was completed by John Laing in 1962. In 1965, under the New Towns Act, Northern Ireland’s first concept ‘new town’ was developed. Craigavon was a commercial, light industrial and residential centre linking Lurgan and Portadown. 1966 is often landmarked by football fans as the year England won the World Cup but, in Northern Ireland, huge and transformative infrastructure developments were connecting and modernising the landscape. In Belfast, the Queen Elizabeth Bridge was built by Charles Brand and Son and was opened by Her Majesty. Also, there was a further extension of the A1 beyond Lisburn to Newry by Sir Lindsay Parkinson & Co. In 1968, a key demand of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was to improve housing. The Northern Ireland Housing Executive took over responsibility of
36 | NI BUILDER
FOLLOW US ON:
www.nibuilder.co.uk
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online