Viaduct delay bill hits $150m
Taxpayers will have to find more than $150 million in compensation because the design of the Kwai Chung Viaduct was changed after the contract was awarded, the report says.
It says a contractor has filed more than 300 claims for losses caused by delays and extra costs after the $22 billion fixed-price contract was granted in April 1993.
Originally scheduled for completion in September 1996, the project that forms a major section of Route 3 was only finished in February 1997, it says.
'The delay in checking the design, coupled with the late provision of loading information and design changes to the Airport Railway, affected the project contractor's progress of works,' it says.
'The Government should have taken early action to minimise . . . its exposure to significant risks of contractual claims. The Highways Department should have completed the detailed design prior to tendering.'
