10 Leighton Asia aiding mobility in Hong Kong A terminus station for n
nine dragons Hong Kong s 7 million inhabitants make it one of the most densely populated metropolises in the world. Nowhere is living space so limited or so expensive as in this Special Administrative Region of China, and the population is constantly growing. For urban planners, it is always a challenge to create space where there is such a shortage and to plan and complete new projects. Hong Kong is an open and vibrant city, which is growing upwards, downwards, and beyond its borders. In the past 36 years, Imperial symbol: The dragon is one of the most important figures in Leighton Asia has been making its presence felt in the metropolis, and it Chinese culture. is now one of the region s leading construction companies, particularly in the area of infrastructure projects. The example of Hong Kong illustrates Closely clustered, Hong Kong's sky- how not one but two of HOCHTIEF s strategic growth fields can be successfully implemented: the shaping of major cities and the building of state-of-the-art transportation infrastructure. scrapers reach for the clouds. More than 7 million people live in the metropolis. Cover Story The West Kowloon Terminus Station, which is under construction in one of the most densely populated districts of Kowloon, will be an international mega-hub complete with 15 platforms, connecting passageways, and a large entrance hall over which a curved steel and glass roof structure will be placed. More than 2 million people live in Kowloon a name that means nine dragons. One can hardly believe that, just a short time ago, the spot on which the construction site for one of the city s biggest infrastructure projects now stands was a golf driving range. Trains, rather than golf balls, will be rolling here in just over three years time thanks to Leighton Asia, which is building the northern section of the station as part of a joint venture. The company s 50 percent shareholding in the 890-million-euro project makes this Leighton Asia s biggest contract in Hong Kong to date. The company will construct a state-of-the-art station with nine long-haul and six commuter platforms, customs and immigration facilities, departure lounges, duty free, and other retail outlets. All of these facilities will be interspersed with tree-lined green areas, encouraging visitors to unwind. Hong Kong profile Hong Kong is situated on China s southern coast by the Pearl River Delta and the South China Sea. The city is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. The metropolis was a British Crown Colony for some 150 years and reverted to Chinese rule in 1997. Today, it is a Special Administrative Region of the People s Republic of China. Hong Kong is very westernized and a cosmopolitan business metropolis. It is regarded as an important international financial center. The city is divided into four geographic areas: Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon peninsula, the New Territories and outlying islands, for a total of 18 districts. It has its own currency (the Hong Kong dollar) and its own laws. People drive on the left and there are double-decker buses like in the UK. 11
12 Cover Story At the moment, sheet piling is being driven into the ground, and the subsoil is being stabilized. Preparatory work is already underway with actual construction starting in March. Where is there space for rail tracks? The express trains will be arriving from China, says the Project Director, Elias Zraicat, who has been working with Leighton Asia for four years. One of the main challenges is that the project is surrounded by main roads with heavy traffic and lined with high-rises that appear to stretch as far as the hilly horizon, and there are people everywhere. That is one of the problems which the company has always had to contend with when building in Hong Kong. The thrusting, colorful metropolis is a good 1,100 square kilometers in size one-quarter the area of the Ruhr region in Germany, where HOCHTIEF has its headquarters. Of this area, however, only around 35 percent is developed. The remainder of the land is mountainous and occupied by farmland and nature reserves. This means that the 7 million inhabitants (there are around 5 million people in the Ruhr region) have to share very limited space. The average population density is said to be 6,396 people per square kilometer almost six times higher than in Responsible for building the gigantic railway station: Project Director Elias Zraicat. As yet still a vision: The West Kowloon Terminus Station. From 2015, trains will run from here to mainland China. the Ruhr region. Most of these people live on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon, and in the New Territories. The skyline is defined by high-rises, like in a big American city. Where is there still space to build? Smart planning is one solution. The second is based on the idea that traffic flows underground. The station in West Kowloon will be the terminus of a new 142-kilometer-long express rail connection to China: the Guangzhou- Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link. When completed in 2015, it will transport 100,000 commuters per day and cut their travel time to 48 minutes. Most of the 26 kilometers within the Hong Kong urban area will run underground. Of these 26 kilometers, Leighton Asia is constructing 8.5 kilometers. Overall, the company has already secured four contracts on the route from the MTR Corporation (MTRC), Hong Kong s railway operator. The project s total value is over 1.5 billion euros. Construction of the terminus will start underground. We have to excavate around 5,000 cubic meters of earth per day, says the Project Director. That is a good 800 truckloads. In total, it will be around 1.7 million cubic meters. The first milestone will be reached at the end of April when the base slab for the first level is completed, 23 meters below the surface. It s a tight schedule.
Around 600,000 cubic meters of concrete will be used to build the gigantic terminus station up to 10,000 cubic meters per week. And, there is another figure that gives an idea of the project s dimensions: Around 3,000 people will be working on the construction site at the peak of the project. Ultimately, the target is to hand over the terminus in 2015. Cover Story Tunneling experts: Under Contract 822, Leighton Asia will construct around 7.65 kilometers of tunnels in the metropolis for the Express Rail Link Dynamic structure with flowing shapes from Hong Kong to Guangzhou (photos right). Visualizations show the West Kowloon Terminus Station to be a dynamic structure with flowing forms, like a winding dragon. When Zraicat talks about the curved, light-filled entrance hall, he explains: It is a fantastic structure, but also very complex. The roof, for example, will be supported by only nine, 30-meter-high columns. Prior to construction, Leighton Asia is working out a very detailed building management system. With this computer-generated 3D design, we can see how the structure is going to look and how it can operate under stress and under loading, Zraicat says. This is because the columns depend on the complete curved roof structure being balanced, so they have to be temporarily supported. Proximity to residential areas is also a major issue that the Project Director and his team will have to face as is the case with all construction projects in the metropolis. Commuters will be happy to wait here: The future station will be a pleasant, inviting place with its bright main hall (below, left). One of the many occupational safety campaigns (lower left): Accidents are rare on Leighton Asia construction sites. Leighton Asia To oversee its growing activities in the Asia-Pacific, Leighton established Leighton Asia in 1975 with headquarters in Hong Kong. As it turned out, this was a stroke of luck, as Hong Kong grew in tandem with China s economic development. Today, Leighton Asia has over 12,000 employees and is one of the leading construction and mining service providers in the AsiaPacific region. The company s solid track record and unrivalled expertise cover all aspects of building and civil engineering, including roads, bridges, rail, specialized marine activities like pipe-laying as well as process plants. Leighton Asia is also the leading contract miner in the region with a portfolio of pioneering projects in Indonesia, the Philippines and Mongolia. Leighton Asia currently operates in Brunei, Cambodia, China, Guam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. More information: www.leightonasia.com 13
14 Cover Story We always communicate very closely with the local community, Zraicat emphasizes. Local residents are informed as early as possible about the construction progress, usually through a project s dedicated website. With a project of this scale, that is a must. We work closely with the MTRC to minimize the impact on people, Zraicat says. For the MTRC, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link is just one of five major projects. Another for the route from Shatin in the New Territories to Central on Hong Kong Island is currently being tendered, and Leighton Asia is bidding for sub-projects. Ambitious: Ian Edwards, Executive General Manager. A further 5.9 billion euros for infrastructure Social Infrastructure is growing, too: Hong Kong is booming because China is booming: Hong Kong is the gateway to the Middle Kingdom. Ian Edwards, who has been Executive General Manager of Leighton Asia s Hong Kong, Macau, China, and Taiwan operations for the last three-and-a-half years, says that investments in both transportation and social infrastructure began in 2007 and seem likely to continue for at least a decade. This is possible because Hong Kong has the necessary funding to invest and recently announced that it Leighton Asia is constructing the North Lantau Hospital. The world's biggest sewage sludge treatment plant is being built in Hong Kong (small picture). intends to make around 5.9 billion euros (HK$ 60 billion) available for infrastructure development each year. The Leighton Holdings subsidiary currently the fastest growing infrastructure company in the region and quickly becoming one of Asia s leading construction service providers is benefiting from this boom. Four years ago, Leighton Asia only had 400 employees in Hong Kong. Today, that figure stands at 2,500 and it is still rising. The company operates throughout Asia and generates one-third of its turnover in Hong Kong. Our goal is to become the market leader, Edwards emphasizes. The opportunities are good as the company is currently engaged in 15 construction projects in Hong Kong alone. This is proof that the government trusts Leighton Asia. In Hong Kong, the company is seen as a regional company because it is well networked, has a great deal of specialist know-how for example, in tunnel construction and also possesses international experience. Nonetheless, with the growing number of projects being tendered, competition is also on the rise. Leighton Asia has proved in past decades, however, that it can construct major projects, such as the Austin Station railway project and the Central Reclamation Phase III project on Hong Kong Island, where construction has
Cover Story 15 HOCHTIEF in Hong Kong Leighton Holdings' parent company, HOCHTIEF, has also realized successful projects in Hong Kong. In 1971, for example, construction started on the High Island Scheme, a major water supply system with a total of 17 retention basins, connected by tunnels, shafts and open concrete gullies. HOCHTIEF was also involved in a 15-kilometer-long section of the subway that was completed in record time (1975 1980). Other contracts at the time included Chater and Pedder Stations in the city center and right beside the skyscrapers. HOCHTIEF employees completed the Aberdeen Tunnel in 1981, connecting the residential districts on Hong Kong s southern coast with the business district to the north, via a road tunnel almost two kilometers in length. been going on for eight years. A total of 18 hectares of land are being reclaimed from the South China Sea and deposited in the harbor. We can offer all construction services Apart from these gigantic infrastructure projects, the company is also very involved in building construction. Two major ongoing projects are a sewage sludge treatment plant and the North Lantau Hospital. One area of business that is currently being built up is the provision of services for buildings. We have already secured two contracts one from the MTRC and one from China Light & Power, one of the city s leading power utilities, says Edwards. The company will be planning and installing the technical facilities, including sprinkler systems and waste pipes for the terminus station in West Kowloon for the MTRC. Our strength is that we can offer all construction services to our customers, he adds. This is a real competitive advantage. The company is ramping up its efforts and, apart from its goal of becoming the market leader, the Executive General Manager also wants the company to win the title of Employer of Choice. We initially thought that we would have some difficulty attracting qualified staff for all of our new projects, he says. Although there are many people living in Hong Kong, the engineering community Hong Kong is growing beyound its shores, as evidenced by the Central Reclamation, Phase III Project. It will reclaim almost 18 hectares of land. is small. However, it has proved possible to fill all of the positions so far. People are happy to join our organization, Edwards says. After all, they know that Leighton develops its employees and that safety is a top priority. A modern city that is aware of its traditions One person who has already experienced this is Zraicat. He has been with Leighton Asia since 2008, and, prior to that, spent 22 years with Leighton in Australia. He likes Hong Kong, particularly because of the interesting mix of Chinese tradition and western culture, which lend the city a certain charm. Dragon dances and lion festivals are not unusual here yet, the same goes for technology and science of a high standard. Hong Kong is similar to major western cities it is international and it is vibrant day and night. Hong Kong has the same problem as every other major city, like traffic and pollution, Zraicat concedes. But the government is aware of this and is promoting sustainable projects and ensuring that tight environmental contracts are in place. One thing is certain: There will still be nature reserves and golf courses in the future, and Leighton Asia is best placed to continue developing a state-of-the-art transportation infrastructure. if Contact: ian.edwards@leightonasia.com elias.zraicat@leightonasia.com gloria.mok@leightonasia.com