[Sand Central Line] Experts from the committee said that the station engineering does not need regular monitoring in the long run after security reinforcement

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Written by: Huang Weilun

2020-01-08 19:53

The Sand Central Line hearing was resumed this afternoon (8th). Mike Glover, an independent structural engineering expert appointed by the MTR Corporation, and Don McQuillan, an independent structural engineering expert appointed by the Commission, gave testimony. Like the experts appointed by Leighton and MTR, McQuillan also believes that the Hung Hom Station project is safe and suitable for its intended use.

McQuillan, who had suggested in the expert report last year that a precision instrument be installed for long-term monitoring of the platform structure, also re-entered the market today. He said that long-term inspection only requires visual inspection, and if the project is reinforced, it only needs casual visual inspection.

Hearings continued in the afternoon, with testimony from Mike Glover first. He believes that the construction quality of Hung Hom Station is "reasonable representative" or "lower end" in terms of the average level of Hong Kong projects, and he does not consider the workers to be of low quality. Regarding how to make the rebar connection better, he did not think that the end butt to butt﹚ was needed, but believed that the screw cap could be tightened more tightly with a wrench.

Mike Glover (right), an independent structural engineer commissioned by MTR. (Photo by Huang Weilun)

Yesterday (7th) when Glover gave a testimony, he mentioned that it was not necessary to install instruments to detect the movement range when the station was operating. It was only necessary to periodically send personnel to record records at the same location and angle, which was different from the recommendations of the committee's interim report. Don McQuilian also spoke similarly to Glover when he testified.

McQuilian said the public was told that the project would be reinforced, so he thought long-term monitoring was needed, but only visual inspection was needed. He added that if the project is reinforced and the structure is safer, then casual visual inspection will be required. He also said that there was no reason to show that Hung Hom Station could not be opened to the public.

Don McQuillan, an expert witness appointed by the Commission, testified in court today. (Profile picture / Photo by Chen Jingqi)

Review the expert report that McQuilian submitted to the committee in early 2019, which mentioned that in order to alleviate public concern, it is recommended to install precision instruments, such as fiber optic system, on the platform boards of the east-west corridor, and monitor the structure for tilt. At the time, he also stated that precision instrument monitoring should be used, but he did not think that there would be a meaningful monitoring result because the measures were only to alleviate public concerns about project safety.

According to the committee's interim report, the committee accepted the opinions provided by independent structural engineering experts and agreed to install instruments, such as optical fiber or other approval methods, on the east and west diaphragm walls, the east-west corridor platform floors, and the north-south corridor platform floors. To detect the magnitude of movement when the station is operating and should report the situation to the government.

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Reinforcing steel bars at Hung Hom Station on Shazhong Line