South Korean contractor shows signs of possible violation at road project

The road starts at a junction with Le Lai road and ends at a junction with Nguyen Trai road. It was part of the project for socio-economic development of Thanh Hoa city with the Thanh Hoa People’s Committee as the investor. Construction started in April 2012 and finished in April 2014. The contractor is Kukdong Sambo, the consortium between two South Korean companies namely Kukdong Engineering & Construction and Sambo Engineering Co. Ltd.

As of now the road is cracked, with parts sinking, and parts unfinished. The quality of the concrete does not meet the standard specified in the design. The amount of cement is lower than designed at some parts. Concrete in some parts is not reinforced. Some manholes do not have lids.

People suspected that the contractor misappropriated funds in order to take some money for themselves. According to phapluatplus.vn the contractor as well as the consulting company were no longer in Vietnam.

Kukdong E&C, established in 1947 as Daeyoung E&C, was the contractor in some major projects in South Korea and internationally such as Seoul-Busan Expressway, Daegu World Cup Stadium, Korea World Trade Tower and the Petronas Twin Towers. Meanwhile, Meanwhile, Sambo Engineering Co. Ltd., established in 1993, has also been involved in many civil engineering projects outside of South Korea.

In late 2013, South Korean contractor Posco E&C was involved in a scandal in which they did not build the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway according to design, specifically the depth of the foundation as well as the road barrier did not meet the requirement. The investor, Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC), asked Posco to pay VND240 million ($11,000) to fix the parts and fired some people in charge, who were from Posco as well as VEC and the project management unit.