The BD Division organised the captioned visit to Ping Che, Fanling on 23 March 2024.
Wo Lee is a steel supplier in Hong Kong with an over 60-year history. The fabrication and distribution centre is over 400,000 sq ft in area and is one of the largest steel fabrication and warehouse centres in Hong Kong. More than 60 different types of fabrication machines, processing over 35,000 tons of steel material per year, are in operation in the centre.
During the visit, Mr T Y Wong and Mr Donald Choi, Wo Lee’s representatives, guided us around the factory and showed us different types of welding machines and their welding products.
We noted that the welds were of good quality and the welding processes were controlled by a qualified welding worker. The welding machines enabled the welding processes to be conducted indoors 24 hours a day, with high productivity and well-controlled quality. In this way, the amount of welding works that needed to be conducted on a building site could be reduced with site safety improved simultaneously. For cases in which welding on site is still required, Wo Lee even had a series of portable robotic welding machines.
Wo Lee also showed us their prefabricated steel modules using DfMA-MiMEP techniques (namely, Design for Manufacture and Assembly with Multi-trade Integrated Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing) for building services equipment installations such as pumps and fans in factories. The modules could be installed on site immediately after delivery, which could greatly reduce the amount of site works required and shorten construction time.
Wo Lee is also meeting the new trend of using high-strength S690 steel. They mentioned that their factory could produce S690 steel plates and sections and use their machines to weld S690 steel for socketed H-pile production to meet market needs.
We also noted that the development of robotics and MiMEP is becoming more mature and more projects are now open to robotic applications. It is reasonable to foresee that robotic welding techniques will be getting more popular in construction projects soon.
The BD Division successfully held the captioned seminar at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 21 March 2024. The seminar, which aimed to provide valuable insights into integrating engineering and technology, smart construction, sustainability and decarbonisation in the pursuit of sustainable building development, attracted participants from a wide variety of fields within the building industry.
The seminar started with some welcome remarks by Ir Tony Za, Chairman of the BD Division. Afterwards, an opening address was delivered by Ir Dr The Hon Lo Wai-kwok and a keynote speech by Ir Ricky Lau, Permanent Secretary for Development (Works), Development Bureau.
In his speech, Ir Lau highlighted the importance of the Project Surveillance System (PSS) as a powerful tool for monitoring project progress and providing predictive analyses to ensure financial sustainability by forecasting costs and time performances.
During the seminar, Ir John Kwong, Head of Project Strategy and Governance Office, Development Bureau, said that the government was pursuing several initiatives to further drive the transformation of the building industry. These included enhancing the application of high-productivity construction, the establishment of the Building Testing and Research Institute (BTRI) and the construction of the Advanced Construction Industry Building (ACIB).
The seminar covered a wide range of topics, including digital solutions supporting smart construction, construction robots, AI applications in construction, and a new retrofitting guidebook for sustainable development in buildings.
The presentations delivered by these industry practitioners and researchers were well-received, and a further questionand- answer session sparked insightful discussions and fruitful exchanges of ideas among the speakers and participants.