A section of the 40 km Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Causeway, currently being constructed by South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. (Hyundai E&C), has collapsed.
Hyundai E&C and industry insiders said on Sept. 6 that a concrete slab, 60 meters long and 1,800 tons heavy, fell off of a vehicle hauling it onto existing slabs. Fortunately, no one was injured.
In 2012, a consortium led by Hyundai E&C clinched the 2.6 billion dollar Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Causeway project, one of the largest infrastructure projects to be constructed in the GCC region.
The Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Causeway is viewed as a symbol of economic cooperation between South Korea and Kuwait. South Korea President Park Geun-hye even paid a visit to the construction site during her first state visit to the Middle East in March. Construction is now 62 % complete and will be completed at the end of 2018.
In January, Hyundai E&C was instructed to suspend some procedures owing to construction delays and the use of substandard materials.
