Creating a fairytale in Hong Kong

摘要

Yet another XL reclamation project is underway in Hong Kong: some 200 hectares of new land are being reclaimed from the sea in Penny's Bay to facilitate the building of a new Disney Theme Park in Hong Kong. The contractor responsible for the works is the BHD -Hong Kong Construction Joint Venture. Both joint venture partners have a long and successful track record in Hong Kong. The work involves the removal of over 42 million m{sup}3 of unusable mud, 50,000 m{sup}3 of which contaminated, and the supply of some 70 million m{sup}3 of sand for the reclamation. One of the contract requirements was close to zero differential settlement after delivery. A number of techniques are applied to the newly placed sand-body to achieve this goal. The settlement process is speeded up by deep compaction, the totally treated volume is about 40 million m{sup}3 The contract also involves the building of a 2 km seawall, a 1.5 km revetment along the eastern seawall and a 2 km access road. This part of the work involves some 2 million m{sup}3 of rock. The entire project is to be completed within a period of 32 months, work started in May 2000 and the completion date is scheduled for 7 December 2002. Planning of the project is therefore all-important, as is the sequencing of the work, using such a large number of equipment simultaneously in a relatively small area. The agreed work schedule is, to say the least, quite ambitious. To be able to meet the programme, a sizable dredging fleet was turned out, including a dozen-odd trailing suction hopper dredgers, a cutter suction dredger, a water injection dredger and a handful of grab-dredgers. But what makes this project a real challenge is that it is to be executed under the strictest environmental supervision. Water and air quality are measured daily, noise levels are restricted, the well-being of local wildlife and corals in particular is closely monitored. All dredging operations, both mud-removal and sand deposits take place within a 4 km silt screen that is placed around the work site.