Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. (HDEC) and the Chilean government have dismissed reports of construction of the $740-million Chacao Channel Bridge has halted, despite a simmering dispute over compensation for the project’s rising costs.
HDEC, with consortium partners Systra and Aas-Jakobsen, is leading design and construction of the 2.75-kilometer bridge that will link the coastal island of Chiloé with the mainland approximately 630 miles south of Santiago, and originally scheduled for completion in 2020. On Dec. 23, the Seoul-based contractor blamed the Chilean government’s “breach of commitments” and “bad faith” negotiations over scope and cost changes for making it “impossible, in these conditions, to continue with the project.”