Accolade Given for Technical Paper on Award-winning
Culvert in Hong Kong
Redhill, UK (2 September 2008) – Professionals from Black & Veatch, a
leading global engineering, consulting and construction company, have been
awarded the Overseas Prize from the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE),
London, for a technical paper, entitled, "Lin Au Culvert, Hong Kong: taming
the torrent."
The paper, co-authored by senior Black & Veatch professionals Bruce
Corney, David Meigh and Michael Hieatt, describes the innovative and
sustainable solutions that helped to address the challenging design and
construction of the Lin Au concrete-arch culvert, part of the award-winning Tai
Po water treatment works (WTW) in Hong Kong.
The 500m-long, 8m-wide concrete-arch culvert is buried up to 25m beneath the
works. The structural integrity of the culvert was vital to support the base of
the new treatment works and to protect the works from being washed out by up to
60MW of hydraulic energy derived from the 75m drop in river levels over the
site.
Bruce Corney, Senior Resident Engineer for Black & Veatch at Tai Po WTW,
commented, "Black & Veatch undertook a fresh approach at design
concept, adopting a single barrel-arch culvert solution. This provided
hydraulic benefits in passing larger flows, 'stilling' the total flow in a
sequence of stilling basins and allowing ease of inspection while in operation.
Additionally, to preserve resources, the designs made as much use as possible
of rock derived from excavations on site."
The Tai Po scheme showcases ingenuity in design and demonstrates excellence
through a holistic, sustainable approach to engineering, Corney added. The
scheme's other commendations include the IWA Global Grand Prize, which was
awarded to Black & Veatch for Design of Tai Po Water Treatment Works and
Aqueducts in 2006.
Black & Veatch was awarded the design and site supervision of the £130M
scheme by the Hong Kong Water Supplies Department in 1995. A contract to
construct the WTW was awarded to Gammon Construction Ltd in early 1998.
Work on the culvert began in March 1998 and took approximately one year to
complete. Other challenges included maintaining supply during diversion works
of two water mains. Accordingly, diversion works were carried out in programmed
short possessions during night-time hours permitting water supplies to be
maintained. For the past seven years the culvert has successfully contained and
dissipated high-speed, boulder-laden storm flows of up to 80m3/s.
Notes for editors
The site identified for Tai Po WTW measured approximately 300m x 400m over two
steep-sided valleys and an intervening ridge with a level difference across the
site of 120m. The Lin Au stream flows for 500m across the southern part of the
treatment works site and falls by 75m within that distance. It then runs to the
sea through Tai Po, a new town with a population of 300,000, about 2km
downstream.
Stage 1 of the works, commissioned in 2003, comprises the first water
treatment stream with site formation and infrastructure for the final three
water treatment streams with an ultimate final treatment capacity of
1,200Ml/day. The works have now entered the proposal stage for Stream 2, which
will bring the works up to 800 Ml/d comparable with the largest treatment works
in the UK, located in West London.
About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch is a leading global engineering, consulting and construction
company specializing in infrastructure development in energy, water,
telecommunications, management consulting, federal and environmental markets.
Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch develops tailored infrastructure solutions
that meet clients’ needs and provide sustainable benefits. Solutions are
provided from the broad line of service expertise available within Black &
Veatch, including conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering
design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management,
program management, construction management, environmental, security design and
consulting, management consulting and infrastructure planning. With $3.2
billion in revenue, the employee-owned company has more than 100 offices
worldwide and has completed projects in more than 100 countries on six
continents.
Black & Veatch’s global water business provides innovative,
technology-based solutions to utilities, governments and industries worldwide.
Local project teams work with multinational water and wastewater treatment
process experts to address site-specific challenges through a broad range of
consulting, study, planning, design, design-build and construction management
services. The company’s Web site address is www.bv.com.
Media Contact:
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