Hong Kong’s scandal-hit rail operator will prise open a total of 80 spots on two new platforms at Hung Hom station this month to unearth the truth of shoddy work allegations on the city’s most expensive rail project.
The MTR Corporation said on Wednesday it would assess the structural integrity of the platform slabs for the HK$97.1 billion (US$12.4 billion) Sha Tin-Central rail link. It will expand the scope of tests by tearing up both the upper and lower slabs on the platforms, for the east-west and north-south sections respectively.
The issues are only thought to affect the upper slabs, but the MTR Corp has widened the investigation to both, for what its managing director Jacob Kam Chak-pui said would be a “holistic, scientific and objective” approach.
The 80 planned dig locations involve 168 steel bar-coupler connections, according to the MTR’s plan, which was endorsed by the government and its three-person expert team.
The dig is the latest development in a construction scandal that blew up in May. Steel bars were cut to imitate proper installation into couplers on the platforms, and the structure of the supporting diaphragm wall was revised without government approval.
The planned investigation will involve a detailed review of the diaphragm wall’s construction records. If irregularities are identified, the wall will be opened up as well.
Leighton Contractors (Asia), the main contractor in charge of building the station platforms, has strongly denied carrying out shoddy work.
The contractor told a commission of inquiry currently under way that a total of eight bars had been cut short on three separate occasions by its bar-fixing subcontractor, Fang Sheung Construction.
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In June, the MTR Corp revealed that on five occasions between August and December 2015 it found steel bars had been cut and that fewer than five bars were involved each time.
The demolition and reinstatement work is expected to last at least 16 weeks.
Kam said the first digs were scheduled for Monday at 24 locations on the east-west section.
Due to the tests, the link faces delays in completion. The east-west section, from Ma On Shan to Tuen Mun, was expected to open by mid-2019. The cross-harbour section, which links Hung Hom to Admiralty, was scheduled to launch in 2021.
Director of highways Jimmy Chan Pai-ming said the line’s opening time would depend on when the safety tests were completed and what the results were.
