Hong Kong is set for a tunnelling boom over the next five to 10 years the likes of which have never been previously seen. As huge investments are made to expand the rail, road and drainage networks, insiders believe the total cost of projects will easily exceed US$15.4bn (HK$120bn), although cost estimates for some of the schemes have not been accurately forecast.
By far the largest amount of money will be spent expanding Hong Kong’s rail network. This has been sparked by December’s merger of the territory’s two rail companies – the MTR Corporation and the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation – into a single entity. The merger, which was completed after years of discussions, provided the catalyst for government officials to announce the green light for a series of long-delayed rail projects, including a new cross-harbour rail line.
The government is also investing in new road and drainage tunnels including an ambitious road tunnel under one of Hong Kong’s busiest shipping channels.
Some of these schemes have already provided a rich seam of employment for experienced consultants such as Ove Arup & Partners and Maunsell Consultants Asia, with more work still to come. Contractors too will benefit as the projects reach the tender stage.
But the surge in tunnelling work has sparked warnings of staff and labour shortages and soaring costs once projects are underway. “Whenever we’ve raised the issue with officials the response has been one of only mild interest. There seems to be a feeling that people who left Hong Kong to go to the construction boom first in Macau and then Dubai will want to return to Hong Kong. But we wonder if that is true,” said one insider. “They won’t if the money and opportunities aren’t there,” he added.
“Admittedly, tunnelling is not so labour intensive as other construction sectors, but the shortage of skilled employees and cost escalations are very real issues,” he said.
The massive investment in the rail network will help stave off the contraction in government-funded public works that has gone on for the past few years. Finance Minister, John Tsang, said infrastructure spending in the 2007-08 financial year was HK$20.5bn, the lowest for several years, and considerably less than the HK$29bn per year predecessor Henry Tang claimed had and would be spent on infrastructure.
Mr Tsang said: “The main reason for the decrease in expenditure is there are not enough infrastructure projects, especially major ones, ready for implementation. I believe that expenditure on infrastructure has bottomed out. It will rise to HK$21.8bn in 2008-09.” This does not include the estimated HK$80bn already earmarked for rail projects.
Rail infrastructure
Hong Kong’s rail network will be expanded by about 50km if all the planned rail schemes go ahead.
The first to be approved was the HK$8.9bn project to lengthen the existing Island Line on Hong Kong Island (see map on p24). The MTR Corp got the green light to start preliminary planning and design of the 3km West Island Line extension at the end of the November, even before the physical merger with the KCRC took place.
The extension, which will be built entirely underground, will continue the Island Line to Kennedy Town with the help of a HK$6bn capital grant from the government. Three new stations will be built at Sai Ying Pun, the University of Hong Kong and at Kennedy Town. Construction will start in 2009 for completion by 2014.
The rail corporation said current plans envisage a TBM will be used to excavate the twin running tunnels between Sheung Wan and Sai Ying Pun. The section between Sai Ying Pun and Kennedy Town station would be built using cut-and-cover techniques with extensive blasting through rock.
The extensive use of explosives will require the construction of a temporary underground magazine to store explosives for blasting. Given the hilly nature of the area, a large network of underground walkways will also be built to optimise public access to the stations.
Final government approval to move ahead with construction is expected to be given by early next year ready for construction to start the same year.
Hard on the heels of the West Island Line extension was approval for the HK$7bn eastern section of the South Island Line, a north-south railway running through the centre of Hong Kong Island (see map).
MTR Corp has already awarded a preliminary design contract to Maunsell Consultants Asia. The nine month assignment, which is due for completion by the end of this year, will look at the scope of the project, risks, construction methods, estimated costs and transport planning.
The 7km line will have the capacity to handle 20,000 passengers per hour in each direction, compared with the usual capacity of 85,000 travellers per hour for the rest of the MTR network. The railway will run from the existing Admiralty station, southwards to South Horizons on Ap Lei Chau island.
New stations will be built at South Horizons, Lei Tung, Wong Chuk Hang and Ocean Park on the south side of Hong Kong Island, along with a depot near Wong Chuk Hang station. Talks are also underway about the possibility of building a new station at Wan Chai and Happy Valley.
The line will connect with the existing Tsuen Wan, Island and future Sha Tin to Central lines via an interchange at Admiralty station. The MTR Corp said: “A significant portion of the line will be in tunnel with the remainder elevated.” About 4km of the line is expected to be built in tunnel.
The main tunnel section will run from Admiralty through Hong Kong Island’s hill range to close to Aberdeen. A second tunnel section will be excavated on Ap Lei Chau. Only the station at Lei Tung on Ap Lei Chau will be built underground, while South Horizons station will be built partially underground. Transport and housing minister Eva Cheng Yu-wah said the aim was to complete the line by 2015.
The railway forms the eastern section of the South Island Line. Ms Cheng said the western section would be built later on, depending on the development of the area. The western segment is planned to run from the end of the Island Line extension at Kennedy Town, via Wah Fu, Cyberport and Aberdeen, to Ocean Park where it would connect with the eastern line.
But the biggest underground rail project to get the green light so far is the HK$41.6bn Sha Tin to Central Link and associated Kwun Tong Line extension, which won preliminary approval from the government in mid-March.
The government gave KCRC the rights to develop the Sha Tin-Central railway six years ago, in a move that was bitterly and angrily opposed by MTR Corp. KCRC awarded seven major scheme design contracts, including preliminary plans for a fourth harbour rail tunnel, for what was an 18km long railway linking Sha Tin in Hong Kong’s New Territories with the central business district.
But further progress was stymied after it became clear there were moves afoot for MTR Corp and KCRC to merge.
Under the government’s March initiative, MTR Corp has been told to go-ahead with preliminary planning and design of the 17km HK$37.4bn Sha Tin to Central Link and the 3km HK$4.2bn Kwun Tong Line extension to Whampoa. Both lines are expected to be built underground.
MTR Corporation chief executive C K Chow said: “The Sha Tin to Central Link and the Kwun Tong Line extension will mark an important milestone for railway services in Hong Kong. These two railway lines, with a combined length of 20km, will benefit not only the residents in the areas along the alignments, they will also add to our existing network providing more convenient rail services to the people of Hong Kong.”
The Sha Tin to Central line has been spilt into two, with the first section running 11km from Tai Wai to Hung Hom, while the second section will run 6km from Hung Hom station to new stations at Exhibition, in Wan Chai, and Admiralty. The Tai Wai-Hung Hom segment will have stations at Diamond Hill, Kai Tak, To Kwa Wan, Ma Tau Wai and Ho Man Tin. It will connect to the existing West Rail line at Hung Hom station and there will be a new train depot at Diamond Hill. Construction of the Tai Wai-Hung Hom section is expected to start in 2010 for completion in 2015, while the Hung Hom-Admiralty section is expected to be complete in 2019.
Construction is also expected to start around 2010 on the Kwun Tong Line extension, which will run from the existing Yau Ma Tei station, via the new Ho Man Tin station, to Whampoa. The extension, which will connect with the Sha Tin-Central line at Ho Man Tin, is expected to be complete in 2015. The government has agreed to underwrite HK$2.2bn in funding support for the extension, which is likely to come from the rail corporation being given the rights to develop nearby property.
Ambitious, long-term plans have also been drawn up for two further rail projects that will require extensive tunnelling. The first is the 30km Hong Kong section of an express railway linking Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou in southern China. About 26km of the Hong Kong section will be in tunnel. Lloyd’s Register Asia has just been appointed by the Highways Department (the department has responsibility for rail projects at a government level) to carry out a review of the institutional arrangements for using a franchise to build and operate the Hong Kong section of the railway. If, as seems likely, the concession approach is used then MTR Corp will be among, if not the only, contenders.
No concrete details of the project have so far been revealed, although it is envisaged the tunnel section will comprise a twin bore. However, insiders suggested the tunnel could be similar to the 5.5km Tai Lam tunnel built by Nishimatsu in joint venture with Dragages Hong Kong on the West Rail line. Nishimatsu-Dragages excavated a single tunnel and built an internal wall to create two separate tunnels.
The express rail tunnel is expected to be operational at least by 2020 when 10 Chinese cities will operate long-haul trains to Hong Kong, generating 15 long-haul return trains per day.
Plans are also being investigated for a dedicated rail line between Hong Kong and Shenzhen international airports that would require a crossing of one of Hong Kong’s busiest shipping channels.
Drainage works
Several contractors have already kicked off Hong Kong’s tunnelling boom after winning the first of what promises to be a package of drainage and sewerage tunnels. The Drainage Services Department awarded two tunnelling contracts in January totalling nearly US$497M (HK$3.9bn).
The larger, worth HK$2.75bn, was awarded to Dragages Hong Kong in JV with Nishimatsu for the design and construction of the 11km Hong Kong west drainage tunnel. The price was above the government estimate of HK$2.4bn, which insiders said reflected the complexity of the project and material price increases, which had already kicked in since the estimates were prepared.
The tunnel, running between Tai Hang to Pokfulam on Hong Kong Island, will vary in diameter between 6.25m and 7.25m. The contract includes the construction of drop shafts, 8km of adits to connect the drop-shafts with the main tunnel, intake structures and Slope stabilisation works associated with the intake structures. The tunnel is due to be finished in November 2011.
The second contract, worth HK$1.12bn, was awarded to Japan’s Maeda Corporation in joint venture with Seli of Italy and China Railway Engineering for the construction of the 5.1km Tsuen Wan drainage tunnel in Kowloon. The tunnel will have an internal diameter of 6.5m. Work also includes 80m of adits, three intake structures plus an outfall at Yau Kom Tau. Work is to be completed in 2011.
The department is also assessing bids from three groups for the construction of a third drainage tunnel. The HK$1bn Lai Chi Kok transfer tunnel comprises a 2.8km, 3m diameter bore from the Kowloon Byewash reservoir to the lower Shing Ming reservoir together with intake and outfall structures. The three prequalified contractors bidding for the job are Leighton with John Holland; Nishimatsu with Dragages Hong Kong and China Harbour Engineering with Shanghai Tunnel Engineering and Alpine Meyreder.
The department is also actively encouraging interest in its next major tunnelling project, the second phase of sewage tunnels as part of the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS), formerly known as the Strategic Sewage Disposal Scheme (SSDS). The tunnels will be built under the northern and western shore of Hong Kong Island, from North Point and Ap Lei Chau, before heading under Victoria Harbour to the existing Stonecutters Island STW.
A contractors’ forum was held in February under the auspices of engineering JV, Metcalf & Eddy-Maunsell, to explain details of the project ahead of the formal invitation of design-construct tenders towards the end of this year.
Plans call for the construction of about 19km of tunnels at an estimated cost of about HK$8bn at depths of up to 160m below sea level using drill & blast through mainly granitic and volcanic rock. The department plans to award two contracts for the tunnels, which will have a maximum i.d. of 3m. There will be 15 vertical shafts. Work is to be completed in around 2013-14.
Highway projects
The Highways Department is also set to extend the territory’s road tunnel network with three projects that are in various stages of planning. One of the most ambitious is a HK$20bn expressway from Hong Kong International Airport to Tuen Mun in the north-west New Territories (see map) and the associated Tuen Mun western bypass. The so-called Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok link features a 4km long immersed tube tunnel under Urmston Road, the main shipping channel between Hong Kong and ports on the western side of Shenzhen, in mainland China. A further 5.8km of tunnel will be built as part of the Tuen Mun western bypass.
Engineering consultants are in the process of being appointed to carry out investigation and preliminary design of both projects. Construction is due to start in 2011 for completion by 2016.
The department is also continuing to work on plans for the HK$12.5bn, 4.7km Central Kowloon Route, which has now been expanded to a 3.8km long dual three-lane tunnel under the Kowloon peninsular.
An engineering JV formed between Mott Connell, Meinhardt and Hyder is carrying out investigation and preliminary design of the highway, which will feature three different tunnelling methods. A bored tunnel will be excavated for much of the route between West Kowloon and the Kowloon ferry pier. A small section of immersed tube will be laid in Kowloon Bay to continue the highway from the pier to the runway at Kai Tak airport. Cut and cover techniques will be used to complete the highway under the airport. Construction is expected to start around 2010 for completion by 2016.
Meanwhile, plans for a major road tunnel, the Central-Wan Chai bypass, along the northern shore of Hong Kong Island have been thrown into disarray amid continued wrangling over land reclamation. The Highways Department had hoped to start construction on the HK$20.5bn scheme next year. But this target may have been derailed after a harbour protection group won a court victory in March, when it was found the government’s plan to carry out temporary reclamation for the construction of the 5km immersed tube tunnel was illegal. The government has now been forced to review its plans.
Hong Kong Hong Kong The Kowloon Southern Link is one of MTRC’s current projects The Kowloon Southern Link is one of MTRC’s current projects The Hong Kong tunnelling boom includes various rail and road projects The Hong Kong tunnelling boom includes various rail and road projects
