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The Housing Department is one of the pioneers in Hong Kong to introduce hard-paved construction into all building and piling sites as part of its continued efforts to promote environmentally friendly, healthy and safe construction.
"Hard-paved construction has proved to be effective in facilitating proper storage of materials, minimising waste, reducing dust emission and enhancing site safety during the construction process," a spokesman for the Housing Department said today (December 23).
"Hard-paved construction will also prevent accumulation of mud or stagnant water as breeding grounds for mosquitoes," he said, adding that this safeguarded the health of site personnel.
"On the environmental front, the impact of construction on surroundings can be minimised by preventing air pollution as well as wastewater runoff from being discharged into the nearby drainage system," he said.
"With the provision of hard-standing ground, construction materials can also be delivered effectively through material stockpile passageways to enhance site safety," he said, noting that there had been a further drop in the number of accidents on construction sites.
Other advantages of the hard-paved construction include better housekeeping and provision of hard-standing ground for temporary storage of building materials. The latter helps minimise the potential for damage or contamination of the materials.
Hard-paved construction has been specified in all the Housing Authority's building and pilling works contracts and incorporated into the department's Environmental and Other Obligation Assessment for evaluating contractors' performance since early 2005.
The spokesman pointed out that hard-paved construction was very cost-effective although some adjustments had to be made to dovetail the topography and special features of the construction sites.
"It comes in different degrees, ranging from part to the whole of building sites being paved with permanently used materials such as precast concrete paving slabs or metal plates, or temporarily-used material such as temporarily concrete paved surface," he said.
Four HA projects - the Un Chau Street Phase 2 and Phase 4 Development, Shatin Area 4C and 38A, Kwai Chung Flatted Factory Redevelopment and Ex-Chai Wan Estate Public Housing Site Pilling Works - are among the forerunners that have taken this initiative a step further by using precast concrete paving slabs at the contractors' own initiatives.
"The precast slabs are highly durable and reusable, thus, reducing significantly the amount of construction waste generated on-site," the spokesman said.
"While the precast concrete paving slabs are commonly decked over level sites, other materials, such as temporarily concrete paved surface or metal plates, are applied mostly in those uneven level sites."
He said that the Housing Department was fully committed to environmentally friendly construction and would strive to continue the green advocacy for its building projects.
Ends/Saturday, December 23, 2006
Issued at HKT 11:01
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