The site visit to MTR Contract No. 903 - South Island Line (East) (SIL(E)), 17th Jan 2015

The site visit to MTR-South Island Line was initiated by CIArb and co-organised with APM Hong Kong. There were only 7 places available to APM. The registration period for the event lasted less than a week as the vacancies filled up very quickly. All delegates attended the event and the participation rate was 100% and very satisfactory. The agenda of the site visit :-
 

  9:30 - 10:00 am Presentation of MTR Contract No. 903
10:00 - 10:15 am View of Ocean Park station from site roof-top and group photo
10:15 - 10:45 am Construction site visit of Ocean Park station
10:45 - 11:30 am Shuttle bus to Wong Chuk Hang station and construction site visit of the station
 

Miss Cynthia Leung was the host of this site visit. A presentation was given at the beginning which briefly introduced the background, information and progress of the MTR project under contract no. 903. The project summary:-

• The South Island Line (East) will be a medium-capacity railway connecting the MTR network at Admiralty to the southern district of Hong Kong, via new stations at Ocean Park, Wong Chuk Hang, Lei Tung and South Horizons - a distance of approximately 7 kilometers. A train stabling and maintenance depot will be located at Wong Chuk Hang.
• The scheme was initiated under the Railways Ordinance in July 2009. Consultation with the public has continued since then; in parallel with the progress of the railway's design. Amendments to the scheme were incorporated under the Railways Ordinance in June 2010 to take into account changes arising from this consultation and from design development.
• MTR Corporation has been working closely with Southern District Council, which has provided strong support for the project, to accommodate local views on the new railway as much as possible. This work will continue throughout the remainder of the project.
• Construction of the South Island Line (East) commenced in 2011. Currently, the target opening of SIL(E) is at the end of 2016.
• Characterised by its close association with the Ocean, the southern district is the home and workplace of many. The South Island Line (East) is designed under the “Oceanic” theme, featuring “warm” and “relaxing” design elements. French consultant MBD Design was employed to bring in new and unique elements in the interior and exterior design of the trains. MTR Corporation is consulting the District Council on the train design.

Right after the presentation, the participants spent around 15 minutes on the roof-top of the site office to have an overview of the outside of Ocean Park station. We also took this opportunity to take some group photographs.

The group then proceeded to the construction site of Ocean Park station where the structure of the station has been completed. The construction workers for the fit-out stages were MEP installation. All the escalators, entrance/exit gates have been installed. The main railway line has been laid and functioning but only for the operation of service trains and for the railway signal test. The design of the Ocean Park station follows mainly the Ocean Park theme. Its walls and poles were all designed with pictures of animals and sea life. Not only does the station present a feeling of Ocean Park but also the feel of a state-of-the-art railway station design.

The site walk at Ocean Park station was completed but followed by a short shuttle bus trip to Wong Chuk Hang station. The design of the Wong Chuk Hang station was more traditional however; it bears two major construction challenges. The first challenge is to construct the whole station above wide storm-water drainage which involved drainage and nearby traffic diversion. Another challenge was to preserve the old buildings around the new station, which required protection strategies for the buildings nearby as well as extensive public consultation and community liaison.

The site visit was successfully completed at 11:30am on 17th Jan 2015. In conclusion, this site visit was valuable and amazing in terms of the MTR station designs and the challenges involved within their construction.

David Wong
Hong Kong APM Committee