1 Building code faces quake test
Nishika Patel, The Standard 2 June 2008
Hong Kongs buildings could face tougher measures to ensure they can stand up to earthquakes.
Existing regulations stipulate that high-rises only need to be able to withstand 250 kilometer-per-hour typhoon- powered wind gusts. But there are growing calls for Hong Kong to follow Shenzhen, which has already introduced earthquake-proof building designs.
Thirty people in Hong Kong reported feeling the tremors from the massive May 12 Sichuan earthquake, according to the governments chief engineer, Edmond Chan Chu-fai, yesterday.
The Buildings Department is awaiting the results of a study into the effects of earthquakes on Hong Kongs buildings.
The study was launched after some buildings felt the shocks of earthquakes last year.
Chan said the initial findings of the study, which has been ongoing for more than a year, indicate most buildings would withstand tremors due to their typhoon-resistant design.
But civil engineer Lau Chi-keung said that, despite the typhoon standards, buildings can still suffer minor damage if their natural frequency, which is determined by their design, matches the driving frequency of an earthquake.
During a severe earthquake, the vibration of a building with a natural frequency that matches the tremor may magnify and result in some form of damage, Lau said.
All major infrastructures such as fire stations, the MTR Corp and hospitals are already designed for earthquakes but Lau said the British decided not to categorize the bulk of buildings as earthquake-sensitive because of Hong Kong's minimal risk to tremors.
But now Hong Kong is a part of China, Lau said there is growing opinion it should fall in line with Shenzhen to introduce earthquake-resistant designs.
Lau agreed with government experts that Hong Kong has a low seismic risk.
Chan said Hong Kong's susceptibility to typhoons means buildings are able to resist 250kph winds. So even under an intensity 7 earthquake, buildings designed to current requirements would be safe. Hong Kong only experienced "slight level 3 shocks" when the level 11 Sichuan earthquake struck.
Hong Kong Observatory scientific officer Wong Wang-chun said the SAR is not in a seismically active area and is 600km away from the nearest plate boundary. Data shows the frequency of a large-scale earthquake drops rapidly at distances greater than 200km from the plate boundary.
There were 54 locally felt tremors in Hong Kong from 1979 to 2008, about two per year, while Japan experiences about 1,500 each year. Most of the tremors were level 5, categorized as "rather strong" or below.
2 Survey reveals fears for proposed culture hub
TIMOTHY CHUI, The Standard, 2 June 2008
Public confidence is low over the HK$21.6 billion West Kowloon cultural project, with those living in the district concerned at the ability of the hub to stay afloat.
A Civic Party survey showed 88 percent of 332 respondents disagreed with the government securing the huge sum before revealing how it will be spent.
"An absolute majority were taken aback when confronted with the sum. Many are concerned the project may become a repeat of the Disneyland fiasco," said Claudia Mo Man-ching, study commissioner and chairman of the Civic Party's Kowloon West branch.
Seventy-two percent of those surveyed said they were worried about the financial future of the cultural hub, and a similar percentage of another 142 residents from outside the district were also troubled over the ability of the hub to stay afloat.
3 Delays to MTR projects costly
Review of flat developments over station could result in HK$2b bill
Olga Wong, SCMP 2 June 2008
The government is reviewing plans to build flats above two MTR stations in response to complaints they would create a "wall effect" blocking air flow and sunlight for nearby residents - but every day it delays a decision the chances of making significant changes grow smaller.
That's according to sources involved with the planned development above Nam Cheong station in West Kowloon. They say that, rather than removing one of the 10 planned residential tower blocks 46 to 52 storeys high, a reduction equivalent to only half a block may be achieved.
The Nam Cheong project has been delayed eight years. The bill the developers have to pay the government - for the cost of building and maintaining pilings and podiums, and in interest on the "opportunity cost" of the administration's investment - has risen from HK$850,000 to HK$1.6 billion, a record for a railway property development.
The money must be paid up front, before the flats are built or sold. The interest bill was increasing at HK$30 million per month and the total bill could reach HK$2 billion by the time the project was put out to tender and the winning bidder chosen to build the project in a joint venture with the MTR Corporation, one source said.
Because the bill is so big, a significant reduction in development density might make the project commercially unattractive to whichever developer is picked to build the blocks in conjunction with the MTR Corp, the source said.
"Figures show the delay has eroded the viability of the project," the source said. If there was a big reduction in density, there might not be any profit in it for the government.
Unlike some of the MTR's other lines, West Rail is owned by the government and the MTR Corp acts as its agent to operate services and develop property.
The chief executive said last October that the government would review the development density at Nam Cheong and Yuen Long to address the public's concerns about wall-like buildings.
As well as the 10 big residential towers, an office tower and seven low-rise blocks of flats are planned for Nam Cheong.
A spokeswoman for the Development Bureau said the review required a thorough investigation of options and detailed technical studies and was not yet finished. She said the government would revise the master layout plans previously approved by the Town Planning Board before putting the project out to tender.
It is understood that among the options being considered, that of reducing the development by one block, is the most financially viable. The reduction in gross floor area would slice HK$1 billion off the project's value, the source said.
But more delays could mean only half a block is achievable.
"There would be no planning gain because air flow would not be improved," the source said
The same situation would apply to the development of Yuen Long station, the source added. At Yuen Long station, nine towers, 25 storeys to 47 storeys high, are planned.
Terence Chong Tai-leung, associate professor of economics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said there was always an opportunity cost when the government paid for enabling works such as piling and building podiums before a project was tendered, and the cost was usually reimbursed by the developer.
"With the delay and rapid inflation, the amount of interest incurred [at Nam Cheong] is normal for a project worth tens of billions of dollars," he said.
He said he was optimistic about the project's profitability because of its prime location and the convenience of travel to Hong Kong Island and the New Territories.
