South Australian construction and engineering company York Civil, which is involved in several major infrastructure projects throughout Australia, has gone into voluntary administration.

Key points: Civil contractor York Civil goes into administration

Civil contractor York Civil goes into administration South Australian company employs more than 400 people

South Australian company employs more than 400 people The company is involved in the Torrens to Torrens and North Terrace tram projects

Administrator Ferrier Hodgson said it was meeting with key stakeholders and clients ahead of a creditors meeting next Thursday, August 16.

York Civil is involved in Adelaide's $800 million Torrens to Torrens road project, the delay-plagued North Terrace tram extension and the widening of Main South Road in Aldinga, along with defence, power, transport, resources and marine projects nationwide.

It was founded in 1990 and employs more than 400 people, according to its website.

Ferrier Hodgson partner Martin Lewis said work had started on an urgent assessment of the company's financial position and the status of its contracts.

"At this stage, the company will continue work on the contracts which are subject to the administrators' review," he said.

Opposition transport spokesman Tom Koutsantonis blamed York Civil falling into administration on the lack of infrastructure projects promised by the Liberal Party at the March state election.

The new State Government delayed releasing the June budget until September 4.

"There is a valley of death in infrastructure spending that we warned about — and it's here," the former treasurer said.

"Its first victim is a great South Australian company with nearly 30 years worth of history here in South Australia gone."

He said he hoped the government had not been withholding payments to York Civil because of a dispute of who was to blame for the tramline delay.

No delay to projects

Transport Minister Stephan Knoll said he had been in contact with York Civil, and he was confident projects would not be delayed.

"The advice that I have in relation to the two major projects, the city tram extension project and the Torrens to Torrens project is because they're both under a joint venture arrangement, that the other partners to that joint venture take up the responsibility and the liability in relation to the delivery of those projects," Mr Knoll said.

"We're working with the administrators and also with those two special purpose vehicles to make sure that those responsibilities are taken up."

The tram extension project has been plagued with problems and delays, with the government still unable to reveal when it will open to the public, but Mr Knoll said it was too early to say whether that was a contributing factor in York Civil's problems.

"It is fair to say that the city tram extension project has had its difficulties but there is a normal claims process that's worked through with any large construction project and we're working through that in the usual way," Mr Knoll said.

"There's nothing to suggest that these two projects have anything more or less than what other projects of a similar type would have."

Mr Knoll denied the State Government was entering a civil construction "valley of death", and it had signed off on stage two of the Gawler electrification project, and started early work on the Pym Street to Regency Road north-south corridor upgrade.

"Upon coming to government, I think that the opposition left us with a pretty bare cupboard and very early on we were able to go to the Federal Government and secure $1.8 billion worth of new money for a range of infrastructure projects," he said.

The company's staff were told about the company's position at a meeting this morning.

Interstate projects it is involved in include the Pacific and Princes highways in New South Wales and Queensland, and the Perth Stadium footbridge in Western Australia.