The Tung Chung New Town Extension (TCNTE) is the first new development area formed by reclamation. The TCNTE is one of the major development projects being taken forward by the Government to increase land supply. The project covers areas on the eastern and western flanks of the existing Tung Chung New Town – the extension in Tung Chung East (TCE) involves new land creation of 130 ha from reclamation, while that in Tung Chung West (TCW) involves resumption of private lots of about 16 ha in total for public development.

An artist’s impression of Tung Chung New Town Extension

The Sustainable Lantau Office (SLO) of the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) is dedicated to the coordination, planning and implementation of various initiatives with a view to striking a balance between development and conservation for sustainable development of the Lantau Island. In the past few years, the reclamation works for about 130 ha of land at TCE were completed in phases for early housing development to achieve the first population intake in 2024. While the reclamation works were substantially completed in early 2023, infrastructure works are being carried out in full swing under six works contracts.

Need for innovation

TCNTE covers construction work fronts scattered all over huge swathes of reclaimed land in TCE and TCW. TCNTE has extensive interfaces with the local communities and stakeholders, for example, the MTR Corporation Ltd and housing development contractors. Efficient and effective project management and interface coordination become essential for the successful completion of the entire TCNTE project on time and within budget. This has also been emphasised as a common goal amongst CEDD, contractors and project manager at the outset of the contract. TCNTE project team strives to successfully deliver the project through various means, including adoption of innovation. To manage tremendous amount of works within the development area, TCNTE team took the lead to establish a common data online platform, also called the Intelligent Management Platform (IMP), to provide and update the latest progress for all contracts involved at a centralised control hub, InnoTCE.

The multifaceted IMP facilitates better management of the construction sites by providing clear presentation of the latest progress in the form of Building Information Modelling (BIM) models and enhancing safety hazards identification through integration of the Digital Works Site Supervision system, BIM models, real-time CCTV monitoring and AI cameras. TCNTE team is committed to applying innovative technologies to develop a smart and safe construction site and enhance construction management and productivity.

InnoTCE control room

Digital twin technology

The IMP in the InnoTCE adopts the latest digital twin technology. Through the application of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and wireless connection, construction records and activities of the site could be digitalised and coordinated on the IMP. With this, the project team can master the real-time information of the construction site to make timely and accurate decisions at their own workstations or mobile devices. This has greatly enhanced the day-to-day management, collaboration amongst the team, quality management and safety performance.

Innovation and technology adopted

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology

The project team applies the latest AI technology to assist in monitoring high-risk tasks and site safety issues, so as to enhance safety performance and effectiveness, such as AI cameras installed at the lifting zone, restricted site entrances and main vehicular accesses. Equipped with analytical and machine-learning technologies, the AI camera system is able to detect automatically trespasses at main vehicular accesses and some restricted zones with potential risks within the site in a round-the-clock manner and send the alert to the InnoTCE control system and via the online communication tools to the frontline supervisors instantly. An example is the restricted zone warning system designed for safety management. AI restricted zone cameras are installed to monitor the restricted zone (for example, lifting zone) to detect unauthorised entry to that zone. Once the system detected the unauthorised entry, the AI system will trigger the buzzer alarm at the zone concerned instantly as warning while sending the alert to the foremen/safety officer to follow up the case immediately.

Dump truck tracking system with GPS

TCNTE is the pioneering public works project to implement a real-time tracking and monitoring system for dump trucks to deter illegal dumping activities by recording and monitoring the trucks’ locations and travelling routes. In addition, dump trucks are also prohibited from entering Tung Chung Road, which is a vehicular route leading to the ecologically sensitive south Lantau areas. In case of a dump truck entering the prohibited zone, a warning notification will be sent automatically via electronic means to the project environmental team and site supervisory staff for prompt investigation. The main contractors could also carry out data analysis for monitoring site progress and environmental performance of their sub-contractors.

Robotic welding for pipeworks

To provide water supply networks for new population in TCNTE, extensive steel pipe laying works would be carried out in the project. The prevailing technical engineering specification requires inside-pipe welding for joining steel pipes with diameter as small as 700 mm. Currently, pipe welding relies on manual operation. Welders are inevitably required to squeeze inside the pipeline to carry out welding under a confined space environment. Hazardous gas emitted from the welding operation and the harsh working conditions, in particular during summer time when the temperature inside the pipe would be extremely high, engenders a genuine safety concern. This instigates the project team to explore alternative means to carry out pipe welding.

With robotic application widely adopted in various industries, the project team set a goal to develop robotic welding for pipe welding works. Through various trials and testings to overcome the hurdles of curved surface of the steel pipes and precision in applying the welds along the joint with the robot, robotic welding was successfully trialled in the project, passing the relevant prescribed welding tests in the specification, including magnetic particle test and pressure test. The self-propelled robotic welding machine can be launched within and outside the steel pipe, and is capable of completing the welding for the whole internal and external loops of welding with good quality comparable to manual welding. The adoption of robotic welding for steel pipes offers an innovative solution for enhancing both construction safety and productivity as well as workmanship.

Internal welding

External welding

Real-time monitoring of ground settlement of reclamation

Settlement monitoring is an important part of TCE reclamation work. Continuous monitoring data is required for comparison with the initial design proposal to verify the validity of the parameters adopted in the design calculation. In the conventional survey method, survey officers were required to visit every monitoring point to measure data manually. As reclamation sites cover extensive areas, the manpower and amount of time required are therefore enormous. TCNTE team has adopted a technology called the Global Navigation Satellite System, which could achieve an accuracy of 2 mm, to monitor the real time reclamation ground settlement by connecting the monitoring points to satellites and making use of cloud computing, which can help enhance construction efficiency and quality.

Magnetic Tuned Mass Damper

Some infrastructure works in TCNTE project including the sewage pumping station and pipework would be carried out in close proximity to the residential area. Sheet piling works are commonly used as lateral support for excavation in Hong Kong. However, the sheetpile driving with vibratory hammer would cause significant noise nuisance to the public, particularly when underground hard materials are encountered.

In TCNTE, the project team applies acoustic imaging, with the hammer impact test to investigate the on-site noise characteristics during sheet piling works with a view to exploring the feasibility of using dampers as noise abatement measures. The site test shows that the re-radiated noise at ~1000 Hz from sheet pile vibration is the major part of the noise spectrum. Using the analytic estimation with Finite Element Simulation, the team identifies that dampers should be designed to cover the frequency regime from 630 Hz to 1250 Hz, the regime where radiation efficiency is high and web mode resonance is severe. The project team then applies the latest passive vibration control technology with respect to TCNTE construction method to invent Magnetic Tuned Mass Damper (MTMD) for the project. The MTMD is to be applied onto the sheetpile to absorb vibration energy emitted during the sheetpile driving. Each damper comprises multiple oscillation masses including stainless steel, magnet layer and resilient layers. It is designed to transfer vibration energy of sheetpile driving to the oscillating masses of MTMD, which will be eventually dissipated by hysteresis in the resilient layers. It could achieve significant noise reduction of about 9-14 dB(A) at tuned frequency and about 7 dB(A) overall noise reduction during piling driving. Each of the multiple oscillation masses is tiny, with size of 100 mm × 50 mm, and can be mounted manually under various site conditions.

Noise damper

Panoramic collision prevention and surveillance system

One of the key safety risks involving operation of heavy machinery and plant is inadequate awareness of the hazards and risks involved. Workers and operators may not be aware of the potential dangers or sometimes even may not strictly follow properly the safety procedures when operating or working near heavy machinery and equipment. A panoramic collision prevention and surveillance system on heavy construction machinery was set up to effectively eradicate blind spots during its operation. For example, in the crane operation, 360-degree video signal system will be provided for the operator in the cabin. When the sensor of system detects a worker within the “danger zone” of the crane operation, the alarm will immediately alert the plant operator and the banksman in the operating area to avoid accident.

Video Signal to Operator

Water-filled barrier impact sensor system

Water-filled barriers are commonly used in the roadworks to separate the road traffic from works area according to the approved temporary traffic management scheme (TTMS). To ensure the safety of the road users, placing of the water-filled barriers in full compliance with the approved TTMS is crucial. TCNTE project team has been implementing impact sensor system for real time monitoring of water-filled barriers. Any movement of the water-filled barriers will trigger the sensor mounted on it. The sensor will then emit an alert signal to the control room and the responsible frontline site supervisors and foremen for prompt follow up action. The 24-hour impact sensor system could save supervision resources in checking and ensuring full compliance of the implemented TTMS on public roads.

Follow up and review

The digital platform in InnoTCE can provide real time alert signals to TCNTE project team via the instant message system and store the historical data in cloud system for further assessment and analysis. Leveraging this technological advantage, the project team not only follows up the case immediately to handle the imminent danger but also manages to identify safety risks to the workers through analysing the collected data. It helps develop appropriate measures to eliminate and mitigate the identified safety risks. For example, the AI helmet detection alert will notify the area foreman for taking prompt action when a worker without helmet is identified on site. The project team will conduct regular analysis of the alert details including the recorded incident locations and time, thereby discerning any upward trend of a particular hazard and devising appropriate action plan, for example enhancing site training and safety promotion to address the problem. The statistics of the alerts would also be presented in the Site Safety Management Committee (SSMC) monthly meeting such that the member of SSMC could discuss the identified deficiencies and review the effectiveness of the implemented measures. For example, the downward trend in statistics of restricted zone intrusion has proven the effectiveness in AI technology in raising safety awareness among frontline staff and workers. The project team also reviews the implementation of the smart systems installed on site regularly on its effectiveness and reliability, such as downtime, maintenance and suitability with regard to the changing site conditions.

The way forward

With the commitment of the HKSAR Government to expedite land and housing supply, trillions of construction investment are expected over the next ten years. CEDD is actively undertaking the planning and implementation of various major development projects spanning the territory, including Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands project and Northern Metropolis project. New technologies for the construction are instrumental in tackling the challenges ahead in view of the significant volume of forthcoming construction projects and tight labour market. By embracing these technologies, it is aimed to successfully bring these projects to fruition, enhance our services to the community and simultaneously improve construction safety and productivity.

In view of the above unprecedented challenges, every stakeholder in Hong Kong construction industry needs to embrace the new technologies fearlessly. On the other hand, the new technology developers are seeking nursery sites to conduct trials of their inventions. To align the interests of the stakeholders in the construction industry and to provide high quality civil engineering services to meet Hong Kong’s development needs, CEDD will continue to act as the pioneer and incubator to promote and implement smart sites with innovation to meet the challenges ahead and move the industry to the next level and beyond.