Officials in the city of Edmonton are defending a decision they made to award a contract for concrete sewer pipes that will be produced in China. The Shanghai Construction Group’s (SCG) Canadian branch was given the $11 million contract, but many are not too pleased with the latest agreement by the municipal government.
Edmonton has been harshly criticized by the Canadian Concrete and Precast Pipe Association (CCPPA), which said that there could be “consequences” if the Chinese firm does indeed construct a 1.3-kilometre (less than one mile) pipe with micro-tunneling technology in the southeast part of Edmonton.
The association issued a letter to city councillors arguing that the installation might be insufficient and if a failure arises with the concrete piping then there could be dire ramifications to the city’s infrastructure.
“The consequences of building buried infrastructure, such as this sanitary sewer, with substandard or non-conforming pipes are many and long lasting,” wrote CCPPA president Gerry Mulhern in the letter.
Furthermore, the association obtained documents, which were sent to Metro Edmonton, that confirmed that Edmonton would also be depending on a third-party inspection of the company’s Chinese pipe factory. It turned out that the inspection was paid for by the company itself.
John Pater, a spokesperson for the city, noted that it has become a common industry standard for a technical inspection and report to be performed by a third-party expert or organization paid for by the company.
K. C. Er, a former Edmonton drainage director who was recruited by SCG and denied that the company uses sub-par materials and manufacturing processes, explained to the Edmonton Sun that the firm has been doing this kind of work for a few decades.
“This is the first project for SCG and we want to make sure we do it right,” said Er. “They have been doing this tunneling technology for almost three or four decades.”
Er added that the CCPPA is just trying to keep competition away from. “They have a captive and lucrative market and they want to protect it. Who is protecting the interests of the city and the taxpayers?” said the Edmonton resident.
Many are questioning the ties between Er, SCG and the city considering. It was reported that he worked for the city of Edmonton for 30 years, traveled to China in 2005, later retired and was then hired by the company.
Despite the controversy making waves across the Alberta city, Er confirmed the SCG would further bid for more Edmonton contracts and will be seeking out local suppliers and workers, one to provide the materials and the other to perform the tasks at hand.
