Glyn T. H. Ing, founder of Continental Engineering Corporation (CEC), was born in the coastal province of Zhejiang, in eastern China.

After graduating from Shanghai Jiao Tong University with a degree in civil engineering, Ing worked on major transportation infrastructure projects in northwest and southeast China for the state-run Lung-Hai Railway (now known as Longhai Railway) Management Bureau and the Chuan-Kang Transportation Bureau. The anti-Japanese resistance campaign was at its height.

Ing established his first company, Wei Dah Corporation, the precursor of CEC. Based in Chungking, (also known as Chongqing) its main business was the construction of national defense infrastructure including the Sichuan airport taxiways and military barracks.

Wei Dah Corporation was renamed and restructured as Continental Engineering Corporation, symbolizing Ing’s sweeping ambition to rebuild the nation. After the war, CEC moved its headquarters from Chungking (also known as Chongqing) to Shanghai to take on the massive task of postwar reconstruction.

CEC focused on postwar reconstruction from its headquarters in Shanghai and two new branch offices in Nanjing and Taipei. Its main businesses in Nanjing were construction of the airport and post offices.

CEC’s new headquarters were located on Chongqing South Road in Taipei. During this period, CEC’s business was primarily military contracts – the Hsinchu Airport runway and apron; warehouses, dormitories and mess halls for the Air Force; the Armed Forces Supply Center; US military warehouses; engineering and maintenance facilities; living quarters for the US military; and US military compounds in Taipei, Taichung, Chiayi, and Kaohsiung.

Nita Ing was the youngest of Ing’s three children – a boy and two girls. She later became chairman of the board of CEC.

CEC formed a joint venture, Prepakt China Company Ltd., with Intrusion Prepakt of Cleveland, Ohio. CEC became the first in Taiwan to introduce prepakt grouting and foundation piling technology. Prepakt concrete piling technology was used in construction of the pool-type nuclear reactor at Tsinghua University. CEC also became the first to use precast concrete columns for excavation support in tunnel construction for the Nanhu coal mine.

CEC built the 1,000-bed Taipei Veterans General Hospital.

CEC worked with the world-renowned architect, I. M. Pei, on construction of dormitories, a chapel, and sports center at Tunghai University.

This government contract was partially funded by Saudi Arabia, and has become a landmark for visitors from the Middle East as well as the primary place of worship for Taipei’s Muslim community.

CEC was the first among its Taiwanese peers to explore business opportunities outside of Taiwan, after the government passed the Veterans Assistance Act, legislation that gave preferential treatment to state-run contractors on government projects. Among CEC’s first international projects were military compounds for the US government in Okinawa and Guam.

Kuang Wu Villa, on Taipei’s Zhongxiao East Road, was a new concept of urban living in Taiwan and paved the way for developments in the Xinyi, Nankang, and Neihu districts of Taipei, turning what was formerly an urban periphery into the Taipei East District, a bustling residential, commercial, and business center.

SVD Architects of Rome, Italy, designed the gymnasium, which used a precast dome structure with no internal beams or columns, establishing a first for Taiwan.

CEC a major player in the government’s “Ten Major Construction Projects” initiative
Of the ten national projects, CEC built the Yuanshan Bridge section of the First Freeway and the structural foundations for the Chiang Kai-Shek Airport Terminal. During this period, Glyn T. H. Ing helped form the Real Estate Association of ROC, and served as its Chairman for the next 21 years.

CEC completed the Continental Building, the first office building located in the East District of Taipei, which was also the first large building in Taiwan without interior columns.

CEC’s construction of one of Taipei’s landmarks, the Grand Hotel, in the style of traditional Chinese palace architecture, led to technical innovations including a new underpinning technique to protect adjacent buildings, as well as a ground covering method for slope protection during excavation. The steep slope of the palace-style tiled roof made it necessary to develop new installation techniques. The use of reinforced concrete technology to create a building in the traditional style was widely admired by industry experts.

CEC became the first construction company in Taiwan to use the Freyssinet prestressing method in the construction of the Yuanshan Bridge section of the First Freeway, after sending a team of engineers to Japan to study the technology. The late President Chiang Ching-Kuo visited the site during its construction.

CEC completed the Yuanshan bridge. At 1,452 meters total length, it had the longest span and the largest deck area of any balanced cantilever prestressed concrete bridge in the world at the time. The high quality and timely completion of the bridge brought CEC to the forefront in bridge construction.

CEC introduced and designed an innovative stair shaft for the Ching An Mansion, achieving both cost and space savings. The scissor-shaped design was widely admired.

Glyn T. H. Ing founded the charitable Hao Ran Foundation, named for the house in Tokyo where his father sought refuge as a young revolutionary against the Ching dynasty. The foundation continues to work on issues including education, human rights, environmental protection, and other global concerns.
https://www.hao-ran.org/en/

CEC was awarded contracts for the Industrial Power Building, Riyadh Postal Center, and REDEC Office Building projects in Saudi Arabia, which required the use of clear face concrete and system formwork, and had to meet international standards for quality and project management. The experience provided a vital introduction to the international construction market for CEC as it learned how to compete with the world’s leading contractors.

CEC sent engineers to Japan to study the precast building construction method, used in industrial factories, shopping malls, and external walls of buildings.

As president, Ing promoted Taiwan as a venue for the 1986 annual meeting of the International Real Estate Federation.

CEC developed steel molds for precast concrete panels for use in building Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Postal Center.

CEC developed pre-assembled module formwork systems, which eliminated traditional on-site assembly and improved efficiency. The new system was used in the construction of the Hsing An Public Housing Complex in downtown Taipei, and helped improve quality, shorten completion time, and reduce costs.

Ing was elected President of the International Federation of Asia and Western Pacific Contractors’ Associations (IFAWPCA), an important platform for Taiwan in overseas construction markets. Since 1956, IFAWPCA has grown from 8 to 15 members, including Tokyo, Seoul, Canberra, Wellington, New Delhi, and Colombo. Taiwan was a founding member.

As CEC President, Nita Ing recruited professional managers and streamlined the corporate structure with the aim of making CEC a global leader in civil engineering and construction.

Glyn T. H. Ing helped establish the Construction Industry Foundation for Research and Development in order to promote fair and transparent public construction procurement policies as well as enhance standards in organizational and management structure of contractors.

During Ing’s term as global president of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI), he donated his own funds to invite experts from the United Nations to conduct several important studies, including global surveys of low-income housing, housing for the elderly, and the inter-relationship between environmental protection and property development.

This combined residential and commercial development, located in a hilly area, became Taiwan’s first example of a large-scale residential project that used integrated planning to protect the environmental assets of its woodland site. After the land was acquired, CEC took 15 years to master the technological and design requirements for a project of this quality, at an additional cost of hundreds of millions of New Taiwan dollars. In 2006, The Village was awarded the FIABCI-Taiwan Real Estate Excellence Award – Special Award in the construction quality category. It continues to be regarded as the most forward-looking community development of its type in Taiwan.

Glyn T. H. Ing invested the 100-year-old American Bridge Company (ABC), builder of such legendary projects as the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Woodrow Wilson Bridge, and Mackinac Bridge. ABC specializes in the construction of complex steel structures, repair and maintenance of bridges, construction of large-scale bridges, military marine bases, structural works and buildings. (Note: CEC divested the business in 2020)

As president of the Confederation of International Construction Associations (CICA), Ing was a powerful voice representing Taiwan internationally, and was focused on aiding housing and construction in the developing world.

CEC was awarded the first MRT tunnel project, the Blue Line CN256, which helped to establish CEC as a leader in MRT tunneling technology, and led to new tunneling projects in India and Southeast Asia. CEC obtained the technology for this project from the cooperative Japanese company, TEKKEN Corp.

CEC built Taiwan’s first prestressed arch bridge, the 800-meter Bitan Bridge of the Second Freeway (Freeway No. 3), which included the Xindian No. 5 tunnel from the north, the Xindian river crossing, and an off ramp connecting to the Ankeng Interchange. CEC was awarded the Construction Technology Automation Award for the steel caissons it developed for deep foundation excavation in the Xindian river. Bitan Bridge became a landmark and a symbol of technological excellence for Taiwan’s infrastructure construction industry.

As a key contractor for the nation’s most significant infrastructure projects, CEC was a pioneer in employing new construction methods, such as the Tunnel Boring Machines, New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), and non-explosive tunnel excavation methods, bringing Taiwan’s construction industry to new heights.

After helping to establish The Real Estate Association of R. O. C. in 1972, the organization was officially recognized by the international Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) in 1974. In recognition of his many contributions, members of FIABCI Taiwan honored him with the title of Lifetime President.

CEC introduced the CONEX Tunnel Segment System from Austria – another breakthrough for Taiwan’s engineering and construction industry.

On April 27, at the age of 80, our founder Glyn T. H. Ing passed away

CEC received Taiwan’s Top Quality Contractor Award for the innovative alternative construction methods used in the National Highway No. 3 (also known as Southern Taiwan Second Freeway) Kaohsiung Beltway C393Z project, including precast bridge segments and a balanced cantilever construction method. The client adopted this design, recognizing that it was an improvement over the original.

CEC was publicly listed and traded on Taiwan Stock Exchange on August 4, 1994. This marked the transformation of CEC from a family-run company to a modern, efficient, professionally managed corporation.

CEC became the first construction company in Taiwan to receive ISO9001 certification, the standard used by more than 100 countries. The ISO certification standard reflects the company’s ability to manage operations aligned with the latest management standards, and is a testament to the company’s quality control system and management’s commitment to continuous improvement.

CEC introduced cable-stay bridge construction technology in the Hsin Tong bridge, which connects Miaoli city and Kungkuan township. Cable-stay bridges require fewer piers, and have longer spans than conventional pier-supported bridges, reducing the risk of damage during storm surges.

CEC built a significant portion of the then world’s largest transportation Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) project at the time, the Taiwan High Speed Rail Project from Taipei to Kaohsiung. CEC was responsible for viaducts and tunnels in the Changhua, Yunlin, and Chiayi sections, as well as the two technically challenging stations of Taichung Wuri and Kaohsiung Zuoying. CEC worked with its technical partner, Bilfinger Berger AG (now known as Bilfinger SE), to become more competitive in international project bidding and construction.

CEC moved its headquarters to the newly completed Min Sheng East Road Office Tower, which used clear face concrete and exposed structural steel. The tower received an award for Excellence in Structural Engineering from the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) in 2000, and remained CEC’s headquarters until 2004.

CEC won its first turnkey project for Taipei Metro Tucheng Line Extension contract CD550. The contract covered train depots, civil works, track works, rolling stock, power supply, signaling, communication, systems integration, commissioning, and testing. The civil works of the contract included two underground stations, a maintenance depot, and tunnels using both tunnel boring machines and the cut and cover method.

CEC completed the Dun Hua South Road Office Tower in 2003. Designed by the US architectural firm, Kohn Pederson Fox Associates, the structural steel office building has 31 floors and 6 underground levels, and was named one of Taipei’s top ten office buildings in 2005 and 2013 by CB Richard Ellis, the world largest real estate investment group. The office building has been CEC’s headquarters since 2004.

Commonwealth Magazine, Taiwan’s leading financial and management magazine named CEC Taiwan’s “Most Admired Company” in the construction industry category for the fifth time.

CEC won the contract for the C260 section of the Taiwan High Speed Rail Project, which passes through Paghuashan Mountains. The scope of work included 7 tunnels, 13 bridges and extensive civil works. The most difficult stretch was the 7.4 km Paghuashan Tunnel. The tunnel was broken through in 22 months, two months ahead of schedule. It set a new time record for tunnel construction. In addition to the time record, the tunnel was a successful example of minimizing environmental damage from construction.

CEC was awarded the contract for the C270 section of the Taiwan High Speed Rail Project, which included 43 km of double track viaduct, four river crossings, and the Yunlin Station area. In building continuous viaducts for both the C260 and C270 projects, CEC was the first to use the 30-meter and 35-meter full-span precast launching method, winning recognition from the industry for its ingenuity, quality, and speed. The C260/270 project received the British Construction Industry International Award in 2005.

CEC was awarded the India National Highway Contract RJ-7. It established an Indian subsidiary, CEC International Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. (CICI) to carry out the work. After this initial milestone, CICI went on to win further contracts in India.

CEC built Taiwan’s first BOT wastewater treatment project in the New Taipei Tamsui area. This key environmental project helps to provide an updated model of wastewater treatment in the Tamsui area and is recognized as the most aesthetically pleasing wastewater treatment plant in Taiwan. The success of this project led to the establishment of a subsidiary in 2006, HDEC Corporation, to explore opportunities in the environmental market.

CEC became the first in Taiwan’s construction industry to receive OHSAS18001 certification, reflecting the company’s high standards in occupational health and safety.

CEC completed the technically challenging High Speed Rail Wuri Station, the largest steel-reinforced concrete structure in the Taiwan High Speed Rail Project. In order to reach the required strength level, one of the steel columns in the Wuri Station was made of 8 steel H-beams welded together, in contrast to conventional steel columns which use one steel H-beam. A major design challenge was to integrate the station and track supporting structures, making Wuri Station unique among the stations in the Taiwan High Speed Rail Project.

CEC completed the Taiwan High Speed Rail Station at Zuoying, the only station at grade. Zuoying Station has multiple tracks with a concourse level at the second floor and platforms at ground level. Zuoying is the only station in southern Taiwan where the Taiwan High Speed Rail, conventional railways, and the MRT converge. This represents the emergence of a new business, commercial, and residential center in Kaohsiung.

FIABCI Taiwan awarded CEC’s Bridge up to Zenith the 2007 FIABCI-Taiwan Real Estate Excellence Award in planning & design. The Bridge up to Zenith is a complex of four large-scale, steel-reinforced concrete, earthquake-proof residential buildings in the Banqiao Special Zone.

CEC adopted the proprietary Endless Self-Advancing (ESA) Method from Japan’s Uemura Corp. in constructing the tunnel underpass beneath the Songshan Airport. The project received the Taiwan Public Construction Golden Quality Award.

CEC won the CU02 contract for the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Access mass rapid transit (MRT), to improve airport connections with the Taipei Railway Station, High Speed Rail Taoyuan Station, and Taipei MRT.

CEC’s award-winning Hushan Reservoir project used soil and rocks excavated on-site to minimize damages to the environment and maximize efficiency. The foundation of the dam, which was built to withstand earthquakes, included an underground plastic concrete wall to seal the dam from ground water, improving safety and water quality. CEC received both the Public Construction Superior Quality Award and 2012 Public Construction Quality Excellence Award from the Economic Ministry for its earthquake-proof, environmentally-friendly Hushan Reservoir project.

CEC established a branch in Hong Kong to explore the Hong Kong and Asian markets.

CEC spun off its property development business as Continental Development Company (CDC) and established Continental Holdings Corporation (CHC) as a holding company for both CDC and CEC. The restructuring allowed CEC and CDC to focus on their core businesses by aligning resources and management systems, with CHC responsible for strategic business guidelines for both.

CEC completed Contract BC-16 in New Delhi, a model project for the New Delhi Metro. CEC’s team set a new record by boring 202 meters (168 rings) in one week, establishing CEC’s competitive credentials in India’s metro market.

CEC imported India’s first slurry tunnel boring machine for the Bangalore Metro UG-2 project, which included construction of four underground stations and two 5.8-meter diameter tunnels. Although the technology is higher cost and more complex to operate than conventional tunnel boring machines, the unique Bangalore terrain, with its mixture of very hard rock and mud, demanded a unique solution. Use of slurry tunnel TBMs allowed tunnel boring to be conducted safely and efficiently underneath the highly congested downtown Bangalore traffic.

CEC HK branch was awarded contracts for constructing two 90-meter deep shafts and an 880-meter long, 8.5-meter diameter expulsion tunnel for Hong Kong’s HATS 2A Waste Water Treatment Improvement Works. This is the world’s largest wastewater treatment plant, with a capacity of 1.7 million cubic meters intake of first level waste water for 3.5 million people.

CEC established a Macau office to pursue projects in the Macau Special Administrative Region.

CEC broke ground for the Yihwa International Hotel (The Marriot Taipei) , an integral part of Taipei‘s urban renewal project and the largest international conference and tourist hotel in Taiwan. The scope of the project included an international tourist hotel, multi-function international conference center, two luxury high-rise residential buildings, totaling 25,240 m² with an investment of over US$ 170 million.

CEC’s Macau branch won its first project, the Macau C360 Light Rail, which serves the cultural and entertainment business district in Macau as well as residents in the Nova Zona Urbana areas and sporting events in the Macau Sports Area.

CEC won the CJ910 Contract for the Taichung MRT project, including three subcontracts, CJ910A for the civil works for Peyton Depot and G0 Station; CJ914A for environmental control facilities for the G0 station utilities and depot; and CJ901 for track works for the Wuri to Wenxin line. These were its first contracts awarded in the Taichung area.

CEC won its first Malaysian project, the 2.6 km Kuala Lumpur Metro underground tunnel from Pudu to Pasar Seni Station, and Merdeka Station. After completion of the metro line in 2016, it will take just 40 minutes to travel from Pasar Seni to the Kuala Lumpur city center.

CEC established a subsidiary, CEC International Malaysia SDN. BHD (CIMY) to take advantage of the opportunities in Malaysia’s growing infrastructure sector.

CEC won its third major project in the Taichung area with CJ930 Contract, the most critical section of the Taichung Green Line Metro, which significantly reduces travel time between the Wuri High Speed Rail Station and Taichung City. Similar to CJ910, the CJ930 Contract included elevated viaducts for stations G10-G17, elevators, and escalators for all the stations of the green line.

CEC completed the US$2.95 billion, C910 Contract for widening of the 40 km Wugu-Yangmei section of National Freeway No. 1, relieving traffic congestion for the Taoyuan Section of Freeway No. 1.

With the completion of the CR580A Contract, a tunnel boring project for the Taipei MRT’s Xinyi Line, CEC’s first tunnel boring project in which it did not work with international technical partners, CEC established itself as Taiwan’s leading tunnel boring machine construction contractor. The project included Daan Station, Daan Forest Park underground station, the stabling track area, and 4.14 km of tunnel boring to connect four stations. It won the Excellence Award in Construction Methods from the Taipei Municipal Government. Daan Forest Park has become a landmark on the Taipei MRT, for the way the station design blends with the natural beauty of its surroundings.

CEC completed this project ahead of schedule in March 2012, allowing the electrification of the train in August of 2013. The most technically challenging of four tunnel contracts for electrification of the Hualien-Taitung Railway, the CL314 Shan-Li Railway Tunnel Project was in the southernmost stretch of the project with a total length of 8,210 meters. The scope of work included a 5,300-meter double track tunnel, situated in a difficult to access mountain area, making geological surveys and materials transport difficult. The project encountered heavy storms that destroyed roads and supply lines to the construction site, resulting in additional time and cost to resume work. With the completion of the tunnel and railway project, the total travel time from Taipei to Taitung was reduced from 5 hours to 3.5 hours.

With the booming property market and the reputation for quality that CEC has established over the years, it saw a significant increase in building construction work, leading to a record high US$2.13 billion in work-on-hand as of July 2014.

CEC celebrated 70 years in business, it has defined itself as a company that accepts change and is committed to innovation. This important milestone is also a new beginning, and it looks ahead to another 70 years of path-breaking leadership in the global civil engineering and construction industry.

With solid expertise in wastewater treatment engineering, CEC’s subsidiary, HDEC Corporation, was awarded three projects – Fengshan River wastewater reclamation and reuse BTO project, Chungli area sewerage system BOT project, and Puding sewerage system BOT project. Among these projects, Fengshan River BTO project is the first case of wastewater reclamation and reuse in Taiwan. It is able to provide 45,000 tons of recycled water per day for the Kaohsiung area.

In order to achieve better efficiency and focus in specialty fields, CEC, via divestiture, transferred ownership of HDEC Corporation, its wholly-owned subsidiary, to its mother company, CHC.

CEC’s parent company, Continental Holdings Corporation (CHC) was elected the sole corporate director of CEC. Through this change CHC aims to centralize its managerial power over its subsidiaries, which will hence no longer have their respective boards of directors and each will be governed by a sole corporate director and a sole corporate supervisor. Nita Ing remains the Chairman of CHC and continue guiding CEC and other subsidiaries.