Bikers end up in building pit

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General News

Two motorcyclists were hospitalised after plunging into a building excavation.The men, aged 41 and 21, apparently failed to notice warning signs and barriers erected ahead of the construction site on Monday evening. The friends crashed through the road blocks set up by workers on one lane of the B45 main road near Zellerndorf before ending […]

Collapsing chimney puts worker in clinic

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General News

A Tyrolean worker was buried under several cubic metres of rubble after a chimney collapsed.The man was engaged in demolition work at a derelict building in Kufstein, Tyrol, yesterday (Tues). He reportedly failed to bring the brick chimney down using a digger. It collapsed when he tried to break up its foundation with a pickaxe.The […]

Ten tenants hospitalised after fire

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General News

Several residents of an apartment complex had to be treated for smoke poisoning after a blaze broke out on the building’s ground floor yesterday afternoon (Weds).The fire raged through a laundry shop in Vienna-Margareten. It is unclear what triggered the flames which subsequently filled the hallway of the whole building with smoke. Ten residents of […]

Porr still feels the crunch

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Business

Construction sector giant Porr AG’s earnings shrank by more than a fifth last year.The company announced today (Fri) that it achieved earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) of 49.1 million Euros in 2010, down from 64 million Euros the year before.Porr argued that it has been feeling the most recent recession – which broke out […]

Booming Poland boosts Strabag

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Business

Strabag SE has said it is “cautiously optimistic” for the remainder of this year due to a “construction boom” in Poland.The Vienna-based company – Austria’s leading building firm – announced today (Thurs) it expected to benefit from the strong economy in Poland and positive developments in Germany.Strabag explained it experienced a strong increase of assignments […]

Open day at controversial VIA construction site

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Business

Managers of Austria’s biggest airport have decided to hold an open day at a disputed construction site.In what is regarded as an attempt to improve the aerodrome’s reputation, Flughafen Wien AG officials said today (Thurs) that the Skylink terminal building site can be visited free of charge between 10am and 5pm on 10 April.Skylink is […]

WIFO warns building firms of a tough time

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Business

Austrian construction companies are in for a difficult year, a leading think tank has warned.The Institute for Economic Research (WIFO) announced today (Fri) that it expected investments in the domestic building sector to grow by just 0.7 per cent year on year. The think tank pointed out that the Austrian gross domestic product (GDP) was […]

Strabag upbeat despite less activity

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Business

Strabag SE chief Hans Peter Haselsteiner is optimistic despite a decline in building activity.Haselsteiner said today (Mon) that his Vienna-based construction company carried out assignments worth 12.78 billion Euros last year, down by 1.9 per cent compared to 2009.He said: “We will be able to increase our performance by five per cent to 13.5 billion […]

Nazi bomb found

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General News

Explosives experts of the interior ministry were summoned to defuse two wartime bombs in Wiener Neustadt, Lower Austria, this morning (Thurs).The bombs – discovered at a property belonging to the Austrian army – were identified as training bombs used by the German Wehrmacht forces in its military drill exercises during World War Two (WWII). No […]

Boy hit by 250-kilo slab

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General News

An eight-year-old boy is fighting for his life after he was hit by a heavy marble plate yesterday (Thurs).Nikola Vasic suffered serious injuries when the 250-kilo object fell on his head in the hallway of a housing estate in Vienna-Simmering.Police said they are investigating over negligent bodily harm since the panel was just resting against […]