Month in numbers

12 - The number killed when an explosion ripped through the Sanyo-Shushenka power station in Siberia.

13 - The percentage rise in turnover Laing O’Rourke reported for the year to the end of March, up from £3.6bn to £4.1bn.

18 - The percentage drop in active UK housebuilding sites compared to last year, according to the Home Builders Federation.

99 - The number of redundancies planned by engineer Arup four months after it laid off 255 staff. Meanwhile, Halcrow is consulting on plans to axe up to 269 jobs.

16m - The sum,in pounds, Foster + Partners sank into the red in the year to April 2009, a period its chairman Lord Foster described as ‘one of the most challenging since the inception of the practice’.

1bn - The amount, in pounds, Network Rail is paying to electrify the rail line between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

2.5bn - The record value, in pounds, of Costain’s order book for the year to the end of March, up 25% up on last year.

3bn - The value, in pounds, of outstanding construction claims in Dubai. The Dubai International Arbitration Centre is facing a trebling of cases this year after hundreds of projects were cancelled.