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Written by: Huang Weilun
2021-06-20 06:30
Last update date: 2021-06-20 06:30
The new platform of Hung Hom Station on the Sha-Central Line will be officially opened tomorrow to coincide with the full opening of the Tuen Ma Line on June 27.
The latest Shazhong line project with a cost of 91.5 billion yuan is equivalent to an average of 7.5 million people in Hong Kong who need to pay an average of 12,200 yuan to build it, but the cost has not been capped.
Scandals were repeated during the construction period. Among them, the Hung Hom Station expansion platform, which was the first to be opened today (20th), was also involved in scandals such as steel bar cutting. This was also the key to the delay in the opening of the entire Tuen Ma Line.
Although the new platform of Hung Hom Station was officially opened, the government and the MTR have repeatedly emphasized the structural safety of the station, but some of the engineering problems that occurred during the construction period have not yet been answered, and who is responsible has not yet been clarified; no one has been responsible for it. Legal Consequences.
Leighton Construction, the main contractor of the project, one of the protagonists of the scandal, has even resumed undertaking government projects. The MTR has not answered one by one on how to ensure the safety of Hung Hom Station in the future.
"Hong Kong 01" provides readers with an inventory of the five major issues that have yet to be addressed in the station project.
▼The police went to Hung Hom Station to search for evidence on engineering issues▼
1. Who is responsible for the steel-cutting problem?
The scandal of cutting steel bars began in mid-2018. After the incident was exposed by the media, it caused an uproar in the society. Afterwards, problems such as unauthorized design changes and the loss of a large number of construction records were discovered. The government set up an independent investigation committee to thoroughly investigate the incident.
Pan Zhuohong, the managing director of Zhongke Xingye, a subcontractor who participated in the Hung Hom Station project, suggested at the hearing that there was a large-scale and systematic cut of steel bars, which was estimated to involve more than a thousand sticks.
Afterwards, both the independent investigation committee and the expert advisory group established by the government confirmed that the steel bars at Hung Hom Station had been cut short.
▼List of scandals about the Shazhong line project▼
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The investigation committee believes that no more than 2% to 3% of the steel bars in the station have been cut short, emphasizing that this is an illegal act, but the situation is not extensive; the advisory group pointed out that an average of 3.3% of the steel bars in the station have been cut short, such as in the east-west corridor. About 21,500 screw caps in the part between the platform deck and the continuous wall are calculated, that is, about 700 steel bars have been cut short, describing "this is not only an occasional operation on the site."
Although the authorities have confirmed that the steel bars have been cut short in the station expansion project, during the hearing, the subcontractor Fan Xun also admitted that workers had cut the steel bars short; and the interim report and final report of the investigation committee contained paragraphs about cutting steel bars. It has not been disclosed because it may affect criminal prosecutions.
However, until the launch of the platform today, no one has been held criminally responsible for the "rebar shearing" problem, and it has not been possible to determine the actual number of steel bars that have been cut short.
Other related reports:
Tuen Ma Line | Hung Hom Station’s new platform at 6.20. It will take 3 minutes to switch to East-West Rail and see the new arrangements.
Tuen Ma Line | Hung Hom Station Project Scandal Recalling The MTR High-rise Earthquake Caused by Leighton Never Solved
▼On June 6, 2018, MTR held a press conference to solve the problem of rebar connection at Hung Hom Station▼
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2. There is no explanation for the suspected abuse of steel bars to push up the cost of MTR
Although some steel bars have been cut short, all reports have finally concluded that the Hung Hom Station is structurally safe, or that it can be used safely after reinforcement.
It is worth noting that the report of the government advisory group mentioned that the design of Hung Hom Station itself contains a lot of extra structural strength. Although it can alleviate the consequences of improper construction, such a large amount of over-allocation is not common. "I don’t know," and it will cause construction difficulties and increase costs.
According to the report, the number of steel bars used in some locations of the Hung Hom Station is four times more than the specification requirement, which may affect the construction cost.
(Expert advisory group report)
The report further pointed out that at least 40% of the spare bearing capacity of the top floor of the east-west corridor of Hung Hom Station and the continuous wall is available; in other locations, the excess allocation is 225% and 467%, respectively.
Regarding these over-allocations, the report stated that no reasonable reason could be obtained from the MTR.
MTR responded by quoting the report that the additional structural strength not only increases costs and affects buildability, but also helps to reduce the situation caused by improper construction.
The MTR continued that the design of the main structure of the Hung Hom Station was carried out at the initial stage of the entire design stage. At that time, it was designed according to the station’s planned use. Since the structure involved was very complex, many factors were taken into consideration during the design decision stage. The delegation suggested that the MTR should improve its operating arrangements and avoid overly conservative designs in order to achieve cost-effectiveness goals. In this regard, the MTR will follow up the observations and suggestions made by the advisory team.
3. The Leighton sister company has not been held accountable for the government project MTR
In the engineering scandal, the main contractor Leighton Construction was one of the protagonists, but it has not publicly responded to the public. Only the staff were summoned to the independent investigation committee to give evidence.
Leighton involved cutting steel bars, tampering with design drawings, and losing a large number of construction records. The committee's report criticized that Leighton was responsible for the "serious mistakes" of the project.
However, Leighton has not yet taken any responsibility. Although Leighton was suspended by the government for 21 months in October 2018, he was not allowed to bid for government projects.
However, during the suspension period, its sister company "CPB Contractors" won a bid of more than 210 million yuan for the Transport Department. The company’s authorized representative in Hong Kong, He Zhigang, is a director of several Leighton related companies, and the CPB office also printed a gift. Dayton sign.
▼Relationship between Leighton and CPB▼
Leighton has so far only been ticketed by the Buildings Department for violating the Buildings Ordinance, which refers to the approval or authorization of the use of reinforced concrete foundations in the variable refrigerant flow system (VRV) machine room during the construction period, or the addition of non-compliant buildings Materials required by regulations.
The case will be heard again later this month. As for other larger engineering issues, no progress has been made.
In addition, due to engineering problems, Hung Hom Station needs to take reinforcement measures to clean up the aftermath.
The MTR has stated that it has set aside $2 billion for reinforcement and will hold Leighton accountable in accordance with the contract.
It is worth noting that Leighton is also responsible for the reinforcement project.
In this regard, MTR responded that the MTR Corporation would reserve the right to pursue the contractor in accordance with the terms of the contract, but the progress of the investigation has not yet been seen below.
▼Part of the expansion site of Hung Hom Station on the Shazhong Line▼
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4. The report of the investigation committee recommended that the monitoring platform and MTR have not disclosed publicly
Affected by engineering problems, the Independent Investigation Committee recommended that the MTR should continue to monitor the station structure during the operation of the station.
In the "Interim Report", it was mentioned that the use of optical fiber or other methods to detect the movement range of the station was mentioned; however, in the "Final Report", it was pointed out that the relevant equipment might be erroneously sounded, so it is recommended to send personnel to visual inspection and continue for a period of time. Time, for example 5 years.
According to the report of the independent audit team, it is mentioned that the MTR has a related "long-term structural monitoring plan", such as monitoring of groundwater and manual measurement of rails.
However, the MTR has not publicly explained how the relevant measures will be followed up. It is still unknown whether it will continue for five years and whether the relevant monitoring data will be released.
In addition, the expert advisory group report mentioned that at that time the MTR had not finalized detailed recommendations on corrosion, additional quality assurance work, etc., and it is unknown whether there are any relevant plans at the moment.
MTR responded that the long-term monitoring plan and scope of monitoring have been approved by the government and will be gradually implemented since March this year.
The MTR continued to point out that, in addition to the monitoring plan according to the recommendations of the Independent Investigation Committee, a registered structural engineer will be arranged for visual inspection. Instruments have been installed in some locations to measure and monitor the structure, emphasizing that the arrangements are consistent with the general practice of monitoring railway buildings in operation. The MTR will submit relevant monitoring results to the government.
▼The new platform of Hung Hom Station will be opened on June 20▼
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5. The government refuses to ask for a management fee of 1.371 billion yuan for the MTR to cap the cost
Last year, the government confirmed that the latest construction cost of the Shazhong line was 91.5 billion yuan.
At that time, the MTR requested the government to pay an additional project management fee of 1.371 billion yuan, but the government believed that the rationale was insufficient and refused to pay. The MTR has since stated that it will discuss the payment with the government without giving any further details.
In addition, the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Chen Fan, went to the Legislative Council to explain the project costs last year, but refused to cap it three times. It is unknown whether the current costs are the final cost.
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01News
Reinforcing steel bars at Hung Hom Station, Shazhong Line, Shazhong Line, Tuen Ma Line