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SINGAPORE – Feng Ming Construction was fined $ 55,000 for damaging a water main, the highest fine ever imposed by state courts for the crime, and an additional $ 1,500 for unauthorized sheet pile installation work on Dunearn Road.
Singapore’s water agency PUB said in a statement on Monday (September 14) that the damage to the water pipe, which is 50 cm in diameter, occurred on September 20, 2019 and cut off the water supply to 38 households. around.
The damage caused the loss of some 468,000 liters of water, enough to fill a fifth of an Olympic-size swimming pool.
Feng Ming Construction was carrying out unauthorized sheet pile work as part of a road widening project in Bukit Timah when their pile machine drove a steel sheet pile into the ground and punctured the main water pipe.
PUB discovered a hole measuring about 10cm by 3cm in the main water line when it went to the scene to isolate the leak and repair the damage.
The agency also deployed a water wagon and provided bags of water to affected households.
PUB’s investigations found that Feng Ming had not been able to physically determine the exact location and alignment of the water pipe, despite knowing the water pipe from PUB’s water service plan.
Feng Ming was fined $ 55,000 for damaging the water pipe. This is the second time that the construction company has been fined for the same reason. He was fined $ 40,000 for damaging a 12-inch diameter water main at Geylang Lorong 1 in October 2013.
Anyone who causes damage to PUB’s water mains with a diameter of 30cm or more can be fined up to $ 200,000 and jailed for up to three years.
The company was also fined an additional $ 1,500 for failing to obtain PUB approval before conducting sheet pile installation work.
Under utility regulations for the protection of water pipe infrastructure, contractors installing sheet piling must ensure that it is approved by a registered professional engineer and include a method statement, impact assessment, and instrumental monitoring proposal. .
Anyone who fails to do so can be fined up to $ 10,000.
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