Skip to main content

Taiwan bureau threatens Kuo Teng over its Kinmen Bridge work

Taiwan’s National Expressway Engineering Bureau said it would terminate its contract with Kuo Teng Construction company because of issues over the construction schedule of Kinmen Bridge. Work on the bridge connecting the main island of Greater Kinmen and Lieyu, also known as Little Kinmen, began in 2013 after it had been a campaign promise in five presidential elections. The bureau recently said that work on the bridge was nearly 19% behind schedule and reportedly gave the company 30 days to bring the pro
June 2, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Taiwan’s National Expressway Engineering Bureau said it would terminate its contract with Kuo Teng Construction company because of issues over the construction schedule of Kinmen Bridge.

Work on the bridge connecting the main island of Greater Kinmen and Lieyu, also known as Little Kinmen, began in 2013 after it had been a campaign promise in five presidential elections.

The bureau recently said that work on the bridge was nearly 19% behind schedule and reportedly gave the company 30 days to bring the project back on schedule.

The Taipei Times reported that it could lead to a change of contractor for a third time.

Kuo Teng Construction has also been told to increase the number of workers, speed up material delivery to the site and to use more efficient equipment.

“The contractor failed to bring in partners that were equipped with better machinery for the project, even though it was facing a shortage of workers and construction materials and clearly lacks the ability to handle the project on its own,” the bureau said in a statement. “The contractor had fallen behind the construction schedule by 16%...which shows that it has neither the ambition nor the determination to expedite the progress of the work.”

The Times also reported that the bureau had informed Kuo Teng Construction in February that delays to the bridge’s construction meant the firm was barred from bidding for government projects for one year.

Public construction commission minister Wu Hong-mo was reported saying most government agencies prefer to choose the bidders that offer the cheapest packages, fearing criticism that otherwise they would be wasting taxpayers’ money.

Wu said his top priority is to make sure government workers are not afraid to hire firms that present the most comprehensive bids, adding that the commission would lay out the types of projects to which this bidding method applies.

Related Content

  • GPS machine control paves the way for Turkish canal
    February 7, 2012
    GPS machine control for earthworks and concrete paving is helping to fast track construction of an irrigation canal in Turkey - Claire Symes reports. The Turkish economy is expected to flourish as a result of construction of a new irrigation channel currently underway in the east of the country. This canal is benefiting from the latest concrete paving and earthmoving technology and will bring with it prosperity to a deprived area of the country. But the project is already taking the lead in terms of Turkish
  • ASECAP: maintenance mindshift turns spending into investment
    August 4, 2017
    With an estimated value of €8 trillion, the road infrastructure is probably the European Union’s largest single asset. It accounts for 83% of passenger journeys and more than 70% of freight movement. Despite this importance, global investment in roads - especially maintenance - has fallen, said Christophe Nicodeme, European Road Federation secretary general. There are grave consequences, noted Nicodeme in his opening keynote address to the recent Study and Information Days gathering, an annual event for mem
  • India mulls feasibility of bridge over Palk Straight to Sri Lanka
    October 27, 2015
    India will carry out a feasibility study on a road link between Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu state and Thalaimannar in Sri Lanka, a federal government minister has said. "It needs the consent of both countries,” said Union minister of state for road transport, highways and shipping, Pon Radhakrishnan. “The project needs to be discussed at various levels," according to a brief report by India’s Hindu newspaper. Radhakrishnan told the reporters that federal government had begun consultations to carry out a
  • Has the promised investment happened?
    July 10, 2012
    At the end of 2008 and the start of 2009, the world's banking system spiralled into crisis, triggered by a series of catastrophic blunders caused by bankers trying to create money from nothing. The result was to plunge the world's economy rapidly into recession. Having proved in effect that lead cannot be turned into gold, the bankers retired on fat pensions leaving governments to pledge huge sums to the banks and fill in the financial gaps.