A bridge too far for construction company

Number of high-profile projects in Copenhagen and beyond will be halted after Pihl & Søn goes bankrupt

The bankruptcy of construction giant Pihl & Søn will have a resounding effect on a number of high-profile building plans in the city and beyond.

At least 16 massive construction projects in Denmark and abroad have been immediately halted now that Pihl & Søn’s insurmountable financial woes have caused the company to close up shop. The company's collapse could lead to the loss of over 1,000 jobs in Denmark alone.

“The bankruptcy of Pihl will have considerable and widespread negative financial and human consequences for a lot of competent employees, developers, partners and subcontractors” Pihl wrote in a press release.

Fingers in many pies
The construction firm, one of Denmark’s biggest, is currently working on a number of larger projects including the renovation of Nørreport Station, the new UN building in the Nordhavn district, the channel bridges in Copenhagen and the Frederikssund Motorway.

The company is also involved with the construction of over 100 apartments in Vejle Harbour, is part of the Femern tunnel project and has submitted a bid on the Nordhavn Metro construction.

The national rail infrastructure company Banedanmark, the national road agency Vejdirektoratet, and City Council all said that they couldn’t estimate the consequences of the bankruptcy immediately, but a task force has been established to deal with the fallout.

“As it stands, we hope that we can continue and complete the Nørreport Station project without delay. We are in dialogue with their business partners,” Søren Stahlfest Møller, the head of finance for Banedanmark, told Berlingske newspaper.

Pihl & Søn is reportedly trying to offload the halted building projects onto other construction companies.

The construction giants have been part of several noteworthy construction projects in the past, including the Opera House, Den Blå Planet, the Øresund tunnel connection and the elephant house at the Copenhagen Zoo.

Current Pihl & Søn projects:

In Denmark

–          The UN City in Nordhavn

–          The revamp of Nørreport Station

–          The bridge over Copenhagen Harbour

–          The circle bridge over Christianshavn channel

–          The channel bridges in Copenhagen

–          Bestseller’s building in Aarhus

–          HF and VUC buildings in Odense

–          The harbour facade in Vejle

–          The Nordhavn harbour tunnel and road

–          A number of railway bridges in Copenhagen

–          Navitas building in Aarhus

Abroad

–          Söderströms Tunnel, Sweden

–          Talvik Tunnel, Norway

–          Beirut Harbour, Libanon

–          Sundsvalls Bridge, Sweden

–          Ratmalana/Ja-Ela, Sri Lanka

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