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# Issue 11

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The Structural Engineer

The Metamorphosing Hong Kong Structural Engineer: From Student to Corporate Member and Beyond K.W. Tang Structural Division: the Hong Kong Connection Y.C. So The Structural Engineering Aspects of Building Control in Hong Kong H.K. Ng

The Structural Engineer

Following the international oil crisis in the 1970s, Hong Kong's two electricity generating companies built large coal-fired stations which now produce about 1Mt of pulverised fuel ash (PFA) p.a. In common with most other countries the disposal of this ash presents problems, exacerbated in Hong Kong by its small land and sea areas and strict environmental controls. The opportunity to help overcome this problem - and, at the same time, improve the quality - of structural concrete by using classified ash as a partial cement replacement - was recognised in the early 1980s. In 1982 the first local classification plant, at the Hong Kong Electric Co. Ltd's station at Lamma Island, was commissioned. Some of the ash from China Light & Power Co. Ltd's plant at Tap Shek Kok is now classified, and some is used as a raw material for the production of OPC to BS12 in the nearby China Cement Co. (HK) Ltd works and in the production of 15% and 25% PPFAC blends. R.H. Pilling

The Structural Engineer

Bamboo scaffolding in various forms can be seen widely used in Hong Kong in building construction, external wall repairs, decoration slope maintenance, sign erection, and other works that require a temporary structure for supporting working platforms (see Figs 1 to 4). W.Y. Fu

The Structural Engineer

To engineers practising in the UK or elsewhere in the world, the term ‘caisson’ is normally taken to denote mechanically bored pier foundations in land formation or a large floating prefabricated box to be sunk into a river or seabed. Y.W. Mak

The Structural Engineer

Born in Tianjin, a major commercial city in north China, CHENG Hon-kwan - known to his colleagues and friends as ‘H.K.’ - spent his early years in Beijing and Tianjin. He received his secondary education at the Tientsin Anglo-Chinese College, founded by the London Missionary Society, where one of the teachers then was the Rev. Eric Liddell, the well-known Scottish Gold Medallist of the 1924 Olympics. Mr Cheng undertook his civil engineering training at Tianjin University where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in 1948.

The Structural Engineer

This paper describes the development of the Tsing Ma Bridge, a central part of the highway and railway access to Hong Kong's new port and airport developments on Lantau island. It briefly outlines the history of the project from the initial feasibility study, commenced in 1978, to the final design, which is currently under construction. When completed in 1997, the bridge will have the world's longest combined highway and railway clear span. Hong Kong's climatic conditions, in particular the occurrence of typhoons, and the requirement to carry the high-speed Airport Railway have each had major influences on the final design. A.S. Beard

The Structural Engineer

Naturally available land suitable for development is in very short supply in Hong Kong. To meet the considerable demand, new land has to be created by reclamation. This process has been ongoing since the Territory became a British Colony in 1843, and the resulting land is used both for public needs and for sale to private developers. Major parcels of land are sold at public auctions and it was at one such auction, on 28 January 1989, that the site for Central Plaza was acquired (Fig 1). The purchasers were two major developers - Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd and Sino Land Co. Ltd - who had agreed to form a consortium to jointly develop the site only during the auction. They paid a Hong Kong record price of US$61 OOO/m2 for the 7000 m² site, making the total price US$430M. Daily interest charges of US\$120 OOO provided a major incentive to complete the development as quickly as possible. Shortly after the auction took place, a third developer - Ryoden Property Development Co. Ltd - joined the consortium. The land cost alone represented approximately three-quarters of the final total development cost, this apportionment of development cost not being abnormal in Hong Kong. P.G. Ayres and J.M. MacArthur