Hong Kong’s Hung Hom station is safe and building must go on, award-winning engineer Mike Glover tells inquiry into scandal
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An award-winning engineering expert has called on Hong Kong authorities to allow the expansion of Hung Hom station to continue despite a construction scandal, telling an inquiry that the building is safe.
Dr Mike Glover, an Arup fellow, laid out his assessment on Thursday at the commission of inquiry into shoddy building work that has plagued the HK$97.1 billion (US$12.4 billion) Sha Tin-Central Link, Hong Kong’s most costly rail project to date.
Leighton Contractors (Asia), the main engineering firm on the job, is embroiled in allegations that reinforcement bars were cut short to fake proper installation into couplers on platforms, and that supporting diaphragm walls were changed without authorisation.
The city’s railway operator, the MTR Corporation, is in the process of breaking open at least 80 sections of the two new platforms to check structural safety. At least 168 bars will be dug up for inspection, with a final assessment expected by March.
Appointed by the MTR Corp to offer an independent opinion, Glover said Hung Hom station was structurally safe and strong.
“I would like to make it clear that, in my opinion, the structure is safe,” he said. There was no evidence to suggest any distress to the building, he added.
