MUNICIPAL authorities seem determined to get tough with the senior personnel of companies held responsible for mishaps in big urban infrastructure projects.

The city government announced last weekend the detention of three company executives on suspicion of being responsible for the nearly catastrophic collapse of an under-construction metro line rail tunnel last July which caused direct economic losses of about 150 million yuan (US$18 million).

Additional administrative punishment was handed out to some of the top management of related companies whose engineering qualifications were also downgraded.

The penalties and detentions followed an expert inquiry which was set up to dig out the cause of the accident. The investigation found that the cave-in was due to improper management of the tunnelling operation which was compounded by insufficient emergency measures put in place before and after the collapse.

Local authorities said stricter engineering management and supervision measures will be enforced where large-scale infrastructure construction is taking place from now on.

Jail term

According to city government spokesman Jiang Lan, the three arrested include Li Zhuhe, assistant project manager of the Shanghai branch of Beijing China Coal Mine Engineering Co Ltd (BCCMEC), and Yuan Qianghua, project manager of Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co Ltd (STEC). The two companies are the metro tunnel's main constructors.

Li Guanqiang, chief supervisor representative of Shanghai Metro Consultant Supervision Co Ltd - which oversaw the project's engineering operations - was also detained.

Sources in the local government say the arrests were made last month. However, it remains unknown whether a trial date has been set for the three.

Under the charge of "being responsible for a severe accident," they each face a maximum jail term of 10 years plus a heavy fine.

Three other persons who work for the companies involved are currently on bail, awaiting further judicial proceedings.

The engineering qualification status of the three companies were downgraded, which means they will find it difficult to bid for future construction projects.

Senior figures in the firms associated with the tunnelling operation have also received punishment.

Zhang Yan, general manager of STEC, and another deputy general manager in the company have been dismissed from their posts. Zhou Huai, general manager of Shanghai Metro Operation Co and Zhu Renwei, general manager of Shanghai Urban Construction Group, were given demerits on their administrative record.

Administrative penalties were also recommended by the authorities for some top corporate personnel in other involved organizations including BCCMEC and the China Coal Research Institute.

Restoration plan

The parties under fire were slated for failing to take timely emergency measures to deal with danger signs when technical problems were detected in the equipment used in the tunnel construction.

Flaws in the engineering plan, inappropriate on-site management and engineering supervision were also listed as factors that led to the accident, according to the conclusions reached by the investigation team made up of senior engineering and construction specialists.

The collapsed tunnels were being built for the city's Metro line M4 that will link the west of Shanghai's city centre with Pudong District across the Huangpu River. Construction began in 2001 and trials were scheduled to begin on the line in 2005.

When the cooling equipment, used to freeze the ground before digging under the river, broke down on June 28 - two days before the accident - no one reported early signs of the impending cave-in signs to the project's management and engineering supervision officials.

The officials were found to have been absent from the site in the days before the accident while reporting everything was "normal" on their daily logs.

Instead of halting the engineering work and taking effective emergency measures, digging continued and the pressure of water and shifting sand built up, resulting in a cave-in in a connection between the metro tunnels in the small hours of July 1.

No injuries were reported in the accident either underground or above ground.

Experts said the accident would not force a change in the rail route and a definite restoration plan will be worked out by late October or early November.

The damaged sections of the tunnels will remain sealed off and "everything is now under control" for repair work to start, one expert said.

The process of obtaining insurance payments for the damage was well under way, officials said.

More than 20 local families were evacuated after the accident and their homes demolished.

The Dongjiadu community office has been paying each member of the five families 20 yuan (US$2.40) per day as temporary compensation to cover their daily expenses.