History
Throughout its four decades of existence, MAA’s distinguished history has largely reflected the evolution of East and Southeast Asia, from the transformation of the four Asian Dragons into modern developed economies to the rise of China and of new countries in Southeast Asia and the modern trend towards sustainable development.
- 1970s
MAA and the Rise of the Four Asian Dragons
- In 1975, Dr. Za-Chieh Moh and Dr. Za-Lee Moh founded Moh and Associates, Inc. in Taipei and Moh and Associates, Pte. Ltd. in Singapore with the goal of training and enhancing local engineering capabilities. By implementing foreign engineering knowledge and technologies into the Asian region, MAA quickly grew and gained recognition throughout Asia, beginning with the rapidly growing Asian countries known as the Four Asian Dragons (Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea)
- 1975
- - MAA was established in Taipei and Singapore
- Introduced international conferences and seminars on geotechnical and infrastructural engineering into the Asian region
- Dr. Za-Chieh Moh held the position of Founding President for the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society.
- In Taiwan, MAA was the first consultant firm to introduce deep excavation and slope field monitoring technology
- 1977
- - MAA Hong Kong was established
- Tamsui Railway Line, Taiwan: Geotechnical engineering services performed by MAA for this historical railway, an integral part of Taiwan trade.
- 1978
- - Taipei Songshan International Airport Pavement Rehabilitation, Taiwan: Emergency repair of the runway without interruption to the airport’s operations
- Dihua Sewage Treatment Plant, Taiwan: Geotechnical services for Taipei, Taiwan’s primary treatment plant at the time, which treated 274,000 cubic meters of sewage per day
- 1979
- - Marina Centre Development, Singapore: MAA developed special criterion for the difficult variability of subsoil conditions in this 920,000 square meter reclaimed land. This major commercial development in Singapore included the first major mixed use complex and largest mall in Singapore at the time, the Marina Square, along with several hotels.
- 1980s
MAA Expands its Capabilities
- MAA expands her services from geotechnical engineering to structural, transportation and general civil engineering, and later on to land development, construction management, environmental engineering and MEP
- 1980
- - St John’s Building, Hong Kong: Structural design provided by MAA which up to date is still an iconic building in Central, Hong Kong, atop the popular Peak Tram terminus
- First volume of technical paper collection from MAA published, with quinquennial releases henceforth. To date; MAA has published over 600 technical papers.
- Pioneered the introduction of Electronic Cone Penetration Test (CPT) technology in Taiwan, still one of the most widely used and accepted soil investigation methods worldwide.
- 1981
- - Great Taipei City Slopeland Development: Taiwan’s current model for slopeland developments originated from this project by MAA.
- 1985
- - Expressway No. 2 (Now Freeway No. 3), Taiwan: MAA begins to undertake portion of the design of this integral large-scale highway connecting the northern to southern ends of Taiwan.
- Touchien River Bridge, Taiwan: Introduction of incremental launching method to Taiwan
- MAA combines GPS, Geological Information Systems(GIS), and Remote Sensing to pioneer its use for hazard management for Taiwan, providing detailed information to the government to evaluate site conditions for planning.
- 1986
- - Taipei City’s first geotechnical investigation analysis performed by MAA
- Lizejian Bridge, Taiwan: A single arch bridge without any piers, this iconic Dongshan River landmark was a segment for many international dragon boat competitions.
- 1987
- - Shin Kong Life Insurance Tower, Taiwan: Tallest building in Taiwan when first Built (245m), and also the first Project & Construction Management project in Taiwan
- National Palace Museum, Taiwan: Slope monitoring for one of the largest ancient Chinese imperial collection with over 696,000 artifacts and artwork. Continuous slope monitoring was carried out for over 15 years.
- Taipei Mass Rapid Transit Systems: The first geotechnical engineering specialty consultancy (GESC) project in the world, and the beginning of the major participation of MAA in Taiwan’s MRT Networks.
- 1989
- - Hsinchu Science Park Phase 3: Planning services for what is now one of the world’s foremost semiconductor manufacturing zones.
- One of the earliest implementation of Computer Aided Design (CAD) systems
- 1990s
MAA and the Emergence of China and Mekong Region
- MAA adapted to the infrastructure development shift towards engineering management oriented development, working with novel methods of collaborations including Design-Build, Build-Operate-Transfer, etc. MAA established new offices in Bangkok, Shanghai, and Beijing, having recognized the potential opportunities in the Mekong region and in China. MAA became one of the few foreign companies which obtained Class A licenses for construction design and consultation in China.
- 1990
- - MAA Thailand was Established
- 1993
- - MAA Beijing was established as a joint venture firm with China Academy of Building Research (CABR)
- Since the late 1970’s and 1980’s, MAA pushed the idea of common utility ducts (combining utilities into one core duct for ease of access and maintenance), and eventually convinced the Taiwan government to implement this system in many of the projects in 1990’s, including Keelung River Reconstruction and MRT expansion projects.
- Nanfang-ao Bridge, Taiwan: Planning, design and construction supervision for the world’s second single hybrid arch/cable type steel bridge.
- Keelung River Straightening Reconstruction Project, Taiwan: MAA’s participation in this project led to the straightening of this key river in Taipei, ceasing frequent inundation problems and creating the Neihu Technology Park.
- 1994
- - MAA Shanghai was established as a joint venture firm with Shanghai Pharmaceutical Industry Design Institute (SPIDI), now part of Sinopec.
- Bangkok-Chonburi New Motorway, Thailand: First motorway built in Thailand, with over 60km of its 80km containing soft ground conditions.
- Ho Chi Minh Nguyen Vanh Linh Parkway, Vietnam: Design for the first parkway in Vietnam, including an award-wining Ong Lon Bridge section
- 1995
- - Saigon South Land Development Project Began: General consultancy and construction supervision by MAA of this award winning 2,600 ha urban development, which became one of the most popular areas in Vietnam.
- Songshan International Airport, Taiwan: MAA introduced the endless self advancing method in Taiwan to construct the world’s first tunnel under an operating airport.
- 1997
- - Core Pacific Shopping Mall, Taiwan: Deepest (31m) foundation excavation in Taiwan with project management and geotechnical services from MAA
- 1998
- - Taipei 101 International Financial Center, Taiwan: Project & Construction Management and geotechnical consultancy for what became the highest building in the world at the time (509m) on completion.
- Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport Project, Thailand: MAA was in charge of geotechnical engineering for the largest infrastructure construction on soft ground (3,200 ha) in Asia at the time, and subsequently carried out over 20 projects for the airport complex.
- 1999
- - Xinyi Bypass of Taipei Connecting Highway. Taiwan: The first common utility duct with shield tunneling method in Taiwan
- Tempisque Bridge, Costa Rica: Also known as Friendship Bridge, MAA, with Ret-Ser Engineering Agency, provided turnkey design and construction of the project.
- Qingshui Service Area, Taiwan: The most frequently used freeway services area in Taiwan, for which MAA provided detailed design and construction supervision. This service station combined beautiful architecture with landscaping elements and became a local attraction.
- 2000s
Integrated Solutions for Global Impact
- The rapid advancements of information technology and internet led to a globalization economy. The massive flow of information has had a tremendous impact on creating a world where nations have become interdependent, changing the way clients seek services from engineering consulting firms. With continued expansion and extensive international network, MAA has been able to provide international quality level services with extensive local knowledge for the rapidly developing Asia and Southeast Asia regions.
- 2000
- - Taiwan High Speed Rail Project: World’s largest BOT operation at the time (US$ 14.9 billion). MAA provided over 80% of engineering consultancy services for this design/build project.
- 2001
- - SURV Taipei, associated firm in architecture, was established
- Kaohsiung MRT Design: Largest excavation of its kind in the world at the time, with a 140m diameter and 30m deep diaphragm wall.
- 2002
- - SURV Shanghai was established
- Longhua Chinese Medicine Hospital, Shanghai, China: Architectural, civil and M&E design was provided by MAA for the largest traditional Chinese medicine hospital in Shanghai.
- 2003
- - Taiwan Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) Project: MAA provided general consulting services for what was the largest ETC project in the world. In 2015, Taiwan’s ETC won the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) World Congress Industry Award, and International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) Toll Excellence Award.
- Geological Investigation and Database Construction for the Upstream Watershed of Flood-Prone Area: A massive-scaled database covering slopelands of multiple basins in Taiwan was created by MAA over 7 years.
- 2005
- - Bangkok MRT System, Thailand: MAA holds the highest participation rate of all Bangkok MRT lines project participation
- Main Stadium for 2009 Kaohsiung World Games: Project management by MAA for 2009 World Games, the first and largest international comprehensive sports event in Taiwan which was praised as the “Best Games Ever” by International World Games Association
- 2006
- - Neihu “Garbage Mountain” Landfill Reclamation, Taiwan: MAA provided waste sorting for this major cleanup project, with over 2.2 million cubic meters of waste and soil excavated. This landfill is now a major landmark park in Taipei, and said to be the first successful example of transforming a retired landfill into a park in Asia
- National Cheng Kung University Hospital Expansion, Taiwan: Largest expansion in southern Taiwan of up to 1320 hospital beds
- Interchange for Lu-Chu Science Park in Taiwan: A complex eco-friendly interchange with sustainable, green designs to use interchange space as fish farms, as well as integrating landscaping with cost reducing and functional solutions. This interchange won Taiwan’s Ninth Public Construction Golden Quality Award in 2008.
- 2007
- - Agiletech Engineering Consultants Co. Ltd. was established in Beijing, introducing risk management specialty consultants in China for underground construction, with over 21 China MRT Line projects to date
- 2008
- - Chung Gang Drainage Channel in Taipei, Taiwan: Detailed design by MAA to vastly improve the ecological and environmental damage to the area through sustainable and green designs. This drainage system now integrates beautiful park facilities with flood prevention and environmental planning measures.
- 2010s
Total Solutions and Smart + Green Engineering
- MAA develops total solutions for EPC and turnkey projects in the environmental, healthcare and manufacturing fields and for land development projects and provides BIM integrated solutions. MAA also implements smart and green urban engineering solutions for Transit Oriented Developments and other land developments. Through additional establishment of firms throughout Asia, MAA expands its engineering capabilities and resources.
- 2011
- - MAA Macau was established
- BIM Center was established
- Taiwan HSR Changhua Station: BIM integrated technology services were rendered, leading to the 2011 BIM Award from Taiwan’s CICHE Society, and the 2015 Ninth Annual Autodesk BIM Award
- Macau LRT Project: Engineering Design by MAA for Macau’s first LRT system.
- 2012
- - Bangkok Blue Line MRT Expansion: Project and Construction Management for the 27km major expansion of Bangkok’s only MRT Line.
- 2013
- - MAA Myanmar was established
- Suvarnabhumi Airport Midfield Satellite Terminal: MAA was the leading consultant of this major expansion of this airport. It added 216,000 sq.m. of terminal expansion for the 6th busiest airport in Asia.
- Kaohsiung Exhibition and Convention Center: Design and general consultation for this landmark international exhibition center, winning the 2013 International Awards for Livable Communities by the United Nations and 2013 Taiwan’s CICHE BIM Award
- Qing Wang Fu Club Suits & Serviced Residences Renewal Project, Tianjin, China won the 5th Annual China Best Hotel Award for Best Historical Inheritance and Preservation. SURV, MAA’s associated architecture firm, provided design services for this delicate 100 year old ancient mansion’s renovation, restoring its luxurious historical landmark, while preserving and protecting the building’s integrity.
- 2014
- - Asian Geotechnique International Ltd., MAA’s associated firm for geotechnical construction in Yangon, was established
- Suvarnabhumi 1st Midfield Satellite Building International Airport Project, Bangkok, Thailand: MAA led the first BIM services for government projects in Thailand.
- MAA signed Strategic Agreement with China CCCC Highway Consultants Co. Ltd., a leading road and bridge construction and design, and leading railway construction company in China.
- MAA signed a MOU with the School of Civil Engineering at Beijing Jiaotong University, establishing the BJJU-MAA BIM Research Center
- 2017
- - Promoted BIM adoption in each department
- 2018
- - Application of UAV in practice
- 2019
- - New Taipei City Smart Cloud Road Information Center (iRoad) was awarded with Digital Innovation Application Award from Chinese Institute of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering
- Sanxia Social Housing was awarded with The 19th Public Construction Golden Quality Awards and The 13th Public Construction Safety Golden Awards
- 2020s
Our World Our Work
- The year 2020 is an unique year. 2020 is not only the year that marks the 45 years of MAA Group development of engineering services, but also is the year when the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, turning everything we are used to upside down. This is the year during which we need to do quiet contemplation-contemplation on the impacts of COVID-19 to the world and its transformational implications on how we will live in the future; and contemplation of MAA’s core values behind its growth and its readiness to cope with potential colossal changes brought forth by the pandemic.
- 2020
- - Advanced Engineering Unit was established
- Engineering Digitalization Department developed intelligent personal protective equipment
- BIM Center was renamed as Engineering Digitalization Department - To Date:
- - The highest participation in the Taiwan High Speed Rail design and construction
- The highest participation of Thailand MRT Lines
- Involvment in 50% of Taiwan’s Sewer Treatment Plants
- Most comprehensive geotechnical mapping study in Taiwan
- Agiletech services provided for over 21 China cities’ MRT lines.
- Over 600 technical publications