Leighton Contractors-Kumagai Gumi joint venture has fallen at least two months behind schedule on its US$247M contract to build the tunnel section of Perth’s US$1.1bn Mandurah rail project (T&TI, December 2004, p8). The cost has also surged by US$26M to US$273M.
The problems were confirmed by Western Australia’s planning and infrastructure minister, Alannah MacTiernan, who attributed the difficulties to labour unrest, rising costs and the need to protect historic buildings. The construction delays have put back the installation of trackwork that in turn has held up completion of the tunnel section by up to four months. The underground section is now not due to finish until April 2007.
MacTiernan told local legislators in May that 28 days have been lost since March 2004 because of industrial action, while rising material costs meant the construction of 10 new stations was about US$19M higher than initially estimated. Costs have also increased because of the extensive measures taken to protect historic buildings in Wellington and William streets from the effects of tunnelling work.
Leighton-Kumagai has instituted a night shift to claw back some of the two-month delay on its own contract. The contracting JV is facing liquidated damages of US$40,000 a day. MacTiernan said: “Leighton are still required to complete their project by the end of October.”
