2
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
2.1
Site Location and Study Area
2.1.1
The WDII Study Area is demarcated by Hing Fat Street
to the east, Victoria Park Road and Gloucester Road to the south and Fenwick
Pier Street to the west.
2.1.2
The site area comprises urban development on existing
reclaimed land along the Wan Chai and Causeway Bay shoreline, together with
existing seabed along the shoreline that will be reclaimed under the
Project. Major land uses within the
study area include the HKCEC Extension, the Wan Chai ferry piers, the PCWA, the
Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (RHKYC), the Police Officers' Club and the Causeway
Bay typhoon shelter.
2.1.3
New land will be formed along the Wan Chai and
Causeway Bay shoreline, primarily for the construction of key infrastructure
and to provide an attractive waterfront with a new public promenade. A total reclamation area of some 28.5 ha is
envisaged, with the newly reclaimed land forming a narrow strip of land along
the existing Wan Chai and Causeway Bay shorelines, from the interface with the
CRIII project west of the HKCEC Extension to the east of the Causeway Bay
typhoon shelter.
2.2
EIA Study Area
2.2.1
The following definitions of the study areas have
been adopted with reference to the Brief for WDII and the EIA Study Brief
registered under the EIAO:
·
Air Quality Impact Assessment: the boundary of the
study area is 500 m outside the development limit of the Project;
·
Noise Impact Assessment:
according to the Study Brief, the boundary of the study area is 300 m outside
the development limit of the Project;
·
Water Quality Impact
Assessment: assessment will be focused on the waters of Victoria Harbour
between Junk Bay and Stonecutters’ Island;
·
Waste Management: assessment
will be focused on areas within the development limit of the Project;
·
Land Contamination: waterfront
shipyards, workshops, utilities, port facilities, etc., that are bounded by the
Review Limit for WDII and which will be reprovisioned under the Project;
·
Terrestrial Ecology:
assessment will be focused on the ‘green areas’ adjacent to the waterfront bounded
by the Review Limit for WDII;
·
Marine Ecology: assessment
will be focused on the coastal area bounded by the Review Limit for WDII; and
·
Landscape and Visual
Impact: the study area for landscape
impact assessment should include all areas within 500 m outside the boundary of
the development limit of the Project, while the study area for the visual
impact assessment should be defined by the visual envelope.
2.3
Project Requirements, Scope and Benefits
Project
Requirements
2.3.1
The Project is driven by the need for the
implementation of the Trunk Road, which is defined as the section of road
extending from Rumsey Street Flyover Extension to the IEC, comprising the CWB
and the IECL.
2.3.2
The Trunk Road will form an east-west strategic
route through Central and Wan Chai. The
Trunk Road is an essential element of Government’s strategic transportation
planning for Hong Kong and is required to provide relief to the existing main
east-west route (that is, Connaught Road - Harcourt Road - Gloucester
Road). The Trunk Road was originally
proposed under the Central and Wanchai Reclamation Feasibility Study, under
which its feasibility was established.
2.3.3
Apart from providing land for key transport
infrastructure (which includes, in addition to the Trunk Road, the NIL and the
possible fourth harbour rail crossing) and facilities, the Project can also
create a coherent pattern of land use and for the development of an appropriate
waterfront ‘edge’ to the existing urban area.
The Project will therefore consider imaginative and high quality
measures to develop a waterfront of international standard for the enjoyment of
the public and tourists. This is in line
with the intentions expressed in the Chief Executive’s 1999 Policy Address, in
which he stated his commitment to the improvement of Hong Kong's waterfront,
with open plazas, landscaped areas, shops and restaurants, for the enrichment
of Hong Kong's quality of life.
Project
Scope
2.3.4
The scope of the Project comprises:
(i) Land
formation for key transport infrastructure and facilities, including:
·
the CWB, including two separate
two-lane single-way tunnels linking HKCEC to Causeway Bay forming the Wan Chai
Bypass.;
·
the IECL;
·
the NIL;
·
the necessary ground level road
connections to facilitate through traffic from Central to Wan Chai;
·
a possible fourth cross harbour
rail link;
·
a Government helipad; and
·
the waterfront promenade and
other essential facilities; land is also required for the associated /
supporting facilities for the waterfront promenade.
(ii) Reprovisioning / protection of the
existing facilities and structures affected by the land formation works
mentioned above.
(iii) Extension, modification, reprovisioning
or protection of existing storm water drainage outfalls, sewerage outfalls, Wan
Chai East Sewage Screening Plant and watermains affected by the revised land
use and land formation works mentioned above.
(iv) Upgrading of hinterland storm water
drainage system and sewerage system, which would be rendered insufficient by
the land formation works mentioned above.
(v) Provision of the ground level roads,
road bridges, footbridges, necessary transport facilities and the associated
utility services.
(vi) Construction of the new waterfront
promenade, landscape works and the associated utility services.
Project
Benefits
2.3.5
The Project provides essential land for the
construction of the Trunk Road, the NIL, the SCL and other key transport
infrastructure. The road and rail routes
are required to relieve congestion on the strategic east-west routes through
Central, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay and on the public transport system, and
their implementation is a core element of Government's transport planning
strategy.
2.3.6
The Project also provides opportunity to create an
attractive waterfront for the enjoyment of the public. At present, large parts of the Wan Chai and
Causeway Bay waterfront are inaccessible to the public or are difficult to
access. The land formed through this
Project will be used to regenerate the waterfront into an attractive public resource
that could be used for a wide range of recreational and tourism-related uses
and functions, with easy access from the urban hinterland. In so doing, the waterfront will become, as
it should, an integral element of the public asset currently provided by the
harbour.
Consequences
of Not Proceeding with the Project
(i) Not
able to relieve traffic congestion
2.3.7
Without the Trunk Road, the east-west strategic
corridors of the hinterland such as Gloucester Road, Harcourt Road and
Connaught Road Central will be severely affected. This will have a knock on effect on Hennessy
Road and Queens Road East and Central.
The north-south links to the Gloucester Road corridor will also be
affected.
2.3.8
At the eastern end of the Trunk Road, long queues
would be anticipated along the IEC as Victoria Park Road between Causeway Bay
Flyover and Canal Road, already very congested, will become a bottleneck. At the western end, Connaught Road Central
(between City Hall and Furama Hotel) will be severely congested. Road connections from the hinterland will
also not be able to operate due to congestion.
2.3.9
From traffic point of view, given that the existing
east-west corridors along the north shore are already overloaded at present,
the future increase in cross harbour traffic as well as general traffic growth
on the Island due to territory-wide population and employment growth will exert
additional pressure on the existing road network, thus causing further
congestion and likely ‘gridlock’ situations to the north shore of Hong Kong
Island, which may also have far reaching impacts to the harbour crossings.
(ii)
NIL and Fourth Harbour Rail
Crossing
2.3.10
Land formed under the Project, in addition to
providing for the construction of the Trunk Road, also provides for the
construction of the NIL and the proposed fourth harbour rail crossing
(SCL). Should the Project not proceed,
implementation of these rail routes will be severely constrained. This will have consequential adverse impacts
on the planning and provision of public transport infrastructure.
(iii) No improvement of the waterfront
2.3.11
Should the Trunk Road not be implemented the
requirement for land formation is likely to fall away and opportunities to
improve the existing waterfront would be limited. The following scenarios are likely:
·
no new land will be available
to upgrade and improve the waterfront;
·
the Chief Executive's promise
in his 1999 Policy Address regarding the improvement of Hong Kong's waterfront
cannot be fulfilled;
·
it will be difficult to realise
the Town Planning Board's objectives stipulated in the Vision and Goals for
Victoria Harbour to make the harbour attractive, vibrant, accessible and
symbolic of Hong Kong;
·
opportunities to upgrade the
waterfront east of the HKCEC Extension would be undermined (the design of the
HKCEC Extension assumed that the adjacent areas would be upgraded and
improved).
2.4
Project Design
2.4.1
The design of the project is based largely on the
alignment and form of the Trunk Road.
During the first phase of the study, all practicable options of
elevated, at-grade, underground and underwater alignments and form of structure
for the Trunk Road (from the eastern limit of CRIII to the IECL), within the
physical and planning constraints of the study area, were considered. Eight options were developed and evaluated
against agreed performance criteria. Three
schemes were then carried forward for further assessment and evaluation against
land use planning opportunities.
2.4.2
The three schemes selected for further evaluation
were:
·
a tunnel and flyover scheme
which runs along the existing shoreline, behind the Causeway Bay Typhoon
Shelter (Option A);
·
a tunnel and flyover scheme
which runs north of Kellett Island to follow the line of the Causeway Bay
Typhoon Shelter breakwater (Option D);
·
an at-grade road scheme which
is proposed to run on reclaimed land after emerging from tunnel at the HKCEC
Extension (Option G).
2.4.3
Full tunnel options were also considered but were
found not to be feasible on the grounds of engineering and construction risk,
risk of damage to the Cross Harbour Tunnel, inability to meet road connectivity
requirements, costs and operational risks.
2.4.4
Under the land use assessments, key planning
elements comprised:
·
the adoption of a marine theme
for the waterfront development;
·
the extension of Victoria Park
to the waterfront;
·
the creation of a waterfront to
international standard.
2.4.5
The development proposals were presented through a
public consultation process during early 2000, including a Public Consultation
Forum that was held on 1 February 2000, in which views on the proposals were
obtained from a wide range of interested and concerned parties. A Consultation Digest presented the three
Trunk Road options selected as suitable for further evaluation and described
the land use concepts developed for these three options. At all stages of the consultation process,
Option A was supported over the alternative options. In overall terms, the land use proposals
associated with the Trunk Road Option A were considered to offer the optimal
land use strategy for WDII and the minimum extent of reclamation.
2.4.6
The preferred option, Option A, is a tunnel and
flyover scheme in which the western and central sections of the Trunk Road are
in tunnel, rising at the Wan Chai PCWA to cross over Kellett Island and
remaining on elevated structure through the eastern section, behind the
Causeway Bay typhoon shelter, before connecting to the existing elevated
structure of the IEC. Slip road
connections and ground level roads provide access to the local road network and
adjacent development and facilities.
2.4.7
Planning concepts for the preferred option included
a new promenade of average width around 60m, which provides for continuous
pedestrian connection from Central through to North Point, and facilities such
as a Marina and a Harbour Museum to enhance the marine theme for the waterfront
development. Pedestrian access was
provided to the harbour front through six direct connections to the Wan Chai
and Causeway Bay urban areas and to Victoria Park. A Harbour Park was proposed on the outside of
the Causeway Bay typhoon shelter breakwater as an innovative means of
reconnecting the Victoria Park with the Harbour, providing environmentally
pleasant recreational areas separated from the roads along the shoreline and
integrating the sheltered anchorage with the recreational facilities of the waterfront.
2.4.8
During the public consultation process, although
Option A was commonly considered to provide an attractive environment that
would be a significant improvement over the existing situation, a number of
concerns were nonetheless raised. These
focused mainly on the following issues:
·
the extent of reclamation
should be kept to a minimum;
·
sufficient accesses to the
waterfront should be provided;
·
the need for proposed
facilities at the waterfront should be reviewed;
·
environmental impacts of the
proposal should be addressed, especially water quality and elimination of
‘dead’ corners in the typhoon shelter and adjacent to the HKCEC.
2.4.9
In response to these concerns, a number of
modifications were made to the Option A layout.
The Harbour Park was cause for particular concern with regard to the
extent of reclamation, and the Option A scheme was therefore modified by
omitting the Harbour Park but widening the yacht club marina breakwater instead
to enable better public access to the Harbour.
In developing the shoreline configuration, sharp corners and areas of
slack water were eliminated wherever possible to mitigate against poor water
quality concerns.
2.4.10
During the second phase of the study, the land use
proposals were re-examined and refined to ensure compatibility with the
planning intentions of the study area.
The Trunk Road alignment and land use layout were then subjected to
detailed planning, engineering, traffic and environmental assessments, to
establish the feasibility of the proposed WDII development and to ensure that
the road and land use proposals meet the requirements of the project in the
most effective manner and with the least impacts. Pedestrian connections have been reviewed and
maximised wherever possible.
2.4.11
The refined layout for the Trunk Road and the
associated ground level roads, together with the planning proposals for the
waterfront, are shown in Figures 2.1 and 2.2.
2.4.12
The proposed Trunk Road and land use layout has been
derived with due consideration of all physical, geometric and operational
constraints, and was subjected to a comprehensive evaluation of planning,
engineering, traffic, environmental and cost considerations. The alignment and form of construction
presented represent the best feasible and practicable manner in which the Trunk
Road can be extended from Central to connect to the elevated IEC to the east of
the Causeway Bay typhoon shelter. The
proposed scheme offers the most efficient and balanced land use arrangement in
association with the Trunk Road.
2.5
Construction Methods and Engineering Requirements
2.5.1
A number of existing waterfront facilities (ferry
piers, drainage culverts, cooling water intakes, sewage outfall, etc.) will be
affected by the WDII reclamation.
Although these facilities will be reprovisioned under the Project, they
should be kept functional and operational during reclamation until the
reprovisioned facilities are constructed and available for use. There is therefore a requirement for
reclamation to be carried out in stages, with careful planning of construction
sequence for both the reclamation and reprovisioning works.
2.5.2
The resultant reclamation staging creates a number
of relatively small and confined areas of land formation. Containment of fill within each of these
areas by seawalls is proposed, with the seawalls constructed first and filling
being carried out behind the seawalls.
This method will allow the land area formed in each stage to be
maximised and also has significant benefits in terms of water quality; by containing
all filling behind seawalls, the release of suspended sediments during the
filling operations will not impact the open water areas of the harbour.
2.5.3
Seawall construction will, in general, comprise wave
energy absorbing caisson seawall units (where exposed to harbour waves) and
concrete blockwork walls (where sheltered from harbour waves), constructed on
dredged foundations for stability reasons.
Seawall trench dredging will be carried out by grab dredgers, which will
also be used for filling the trenches with sand and rock fill for the seawall
foundations.
2.5.4
A partially dredged reclamation is proposed. The Wan Chai shoreline and most of the
eastern portion of the Causeway Bay typhoon shelter will be reclaimed by
dredged method. Marine deposits will be
retained in-situ in the western portion and at the eastern end of the typhoon
shelter. This approach is dictated by
the minimum extent of dredging required for foundations of the seawalls, roads
and drainage culverts and for practical engineering and construction reasons
which, due mainly to the narrow configuration of the reclamation, effectively
results in a dredged approach over most of the length of the site. Figure 2.3 indicates the proposed extent of
dredging for the WDII project.
2.5.5
The use of marine sand fill is proposed, with fill
placed behind the enclosing seawalls of each reclamation stage. The use of marine sand fill will enable the
formed land to comply with required engineering and settlement performance
criteria, with the fill placed within a very tight programme in order to meet critical
project completion dates.
2.5.6
While marine sand is proposed to be used generally
for filling, detailed investigations have been conducted to explore the
possibility of using selected public fill (surplus CDG material from Civil
Engineering Department's Anderson Road project) and surplus rock fill (also
from the Anderson Road project) where engineering, programme and implementation
constraints permit. The investigations
indicate that it is possible to use selected public fill in the upper formation
layers, above +2.5 mPD, albeit with some adverse environmental implications
with respect to dust nuisance, which would require mitigation.
2.5.7
The investigations also indicate that, besides the
upper layers, it is feasible from the engineering perspective to maximise the
use of selected public fill in other areas of the reclamation. By so doing, it will be possible to use up to
1.1 Mm3 of selected public fill in combination with 1.4 Mm3
of surplus rock fill, with the balance of filling (1.2 Mm3) being
marine sand fill. However, this
maximised use of public fill will mean, in addition to increased environmental
impacts, a delay to the completion of the Project. Environmental assessments have been carried
out with both the use of marine sand fill with public fill in the upper
formation layers and the maximised use of public fill in mind, by taking into
account worst case scenarios. At the
time of submission of this EIA Report, the Administration has decided to adopt
the latter scheme, ie maximising the use of selected public fill.
2.5.8
The construction method for the Trunk Road tunnel
will adopt diaphragm walling for the permanent tunnel walls and top down
construction for the tunnel slabs. Where
the tunnel crosses the immersed tube MTR Tsuen Wan Line (to the west of the
HKCEC Extension), piled foundations will be constructed on each side of the MTR
tunnel and precast sections of the Trunk Road tunnel will be used to span
across the MTR line.
2.5.9
The reprovisioned Wan Chai East ferry pier will be a
piled structure, as will the widened deck of the existing Expo Drive East pier,
which will be used for the reprovisioned government helipad. The bridge connection across the marine basin
on the western side of the HKCEC Extension will also be a piled structure.
2.6 Operation of the
Project
2.6.1 Operational activities, on completion of
the Project, would comprise essentially traffic movements on the new roads and
public use of the waterfront. The RHKYC
will continue to operate as at present.
There are no major changes of land uses which will result in new
operations not already taking place along this shoreline, indeed, there will be
a reduction in respect of the relocation away from this shoreline of the
current PCWA barging activities.
2.7
Works Programme
2.7.1
The WDII construction works are anticipated to
commence on site in March 2004, with completion of the Project by February
2010. A construction programme
(WDII_C10), where the use of selected public fill is maximised in the
reclamation, is presented in Appendix 2.1 for reference. This programme provides the basis for the
assessments presented in this report. An
alternative programme (WDII_CP9) is also presented in which the reclamation is
carried out primarily with marine sand fill, with consequential earlier
completion of the reclamation. The
implications of this programme are also addressed in the impact assessments,
where appropriate, for worst case scenarios.
2.7.2
As noted in Section 2.5 above, construction needs to
be carried out in stages in order to meet the services and utilities
reprovisioning requirements and construction sequencing constraints. A staged construction programme, with works
in each area being carried out sequentially, has been developed to meet the
objectives of the Project. The staging
of the reclamation works, with respect to the above issues and constraints, is
shown indicatively in Figures 2.4 to 2.7.
A brief description of the proposed works, with reference to the staging
requirements, is given below.
Causeway
Bay Reclamation
2.7.3
The reclamation in the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter
is divided into two stages, with the limit of the eastern portion of the
reclamation defined by the existing Windsor House cooling water intake which,
together with the intakes for the Excelsior Hotel and World Trade Centre, must be
relocated to new cooling water intake chambers before Stage 2 (the western
portion) can commence.
2.7.4
Reclamation Stages CBR1E and CBR1W are separated by
a temporary drainage outfall diversion for Culvert R, which must be extended to
the new seafront to minimise adverse water quality effects in the temporary
embayments formed during construction. A
new diversion culvert is proposed to intercept all the discharges from the
existing drainage outfalls that currently discharge into the typhoon shelter
and to discharge them to the open harbour outside the typhoon shelter to the
east. With the construction sequence of
the culvert starting from the downstream end, reclamation is generally carried
out from east to west.
2.7.5
Works in this area will commence in March 2004 and,
for the intended use of public fill, the land formation and drainage works will
be completed by December 2007 for handover of the works area to Highways
Department for the construction of the IECL.
Wan
Chai Reclamation
2.7.6
Three stages have been proposed for Wan Chai
Reclamation, in addition to the reclamation of the PCWA basin and the Kellett
Island Marina breakwater. The initial
reclamation stage WCR1 will form land for the diversion of the WSD salt water
intakes and the Sun Hung Kai cooling water intake at the end of Tonnochy Road
and the Wan Chai East sewage outfall at the end of Marsh Road. These facilities limit the eastern and
western extents of the initial land formation.
After land formation, the Trunk Road tunnel structure will be
constructed within this area of reclamation and, thereafter, the saltwater and
cooling water intakes and a new sewage outfall can be constructed over the
tunnel box to the new seawall.
2.7.7
Once the diverted saltwater and cooling water
intakes have been commissioned, reclamation works in area WCR2E can
commence. Once the new sewage outfall
has been commissioned, reclamation works in area WCR3W can commence.
2.7.8
Reclamation area WCR2W must be kept open to allow
for drainage discharge from Culvert M, and so as not to obstruct ferry
navigation to the temporary ferry piers at Expo Drive East. Only after the new extension to Culvert M has
been constructed and the ferry piers relocated to the new ferry pier to be
constructed on the WCR2E seawall can reclamation works be undertaken in area
WCR2W. WCR3E and WCR3W are separated by
the construction of the temporary drainage outfall for Culvert O, which is
required to minimise adverse water quality effects in the temporary embayment
formed during construction.
2.7.9
Works in this area also commence in March 2004, with
land formation being completed by end-2007 and the Trunk Road tunnel structure
completed by September 2008 for handover to the HyD for their operational
completion of the Trunk Road.
HKCEC
Reclamation
2.7.10
Reclamation of the HKCEC water channel (HKCEC1) can
take place only after diversion and commissioning of the existing cooling water
intakes along this seawall to the intake chambers already provided on the north
side of the HKCEC Extension. Reclamation
in the water channel is also programmed before adjacent reclamation to either
the east or west of the HKCEC Extension so as to avoid embayment of this
confined water area.
2.7.11
Reclamation to the west of the HKCEC Extension must
make provision for the MTR Tsuen Wan Line crossing and the extension of the
drainage culvert from Lung King Street.
The timing of this stage of land formation is also dependent upon the
prior completion of the eastern end of the CRIII reclamation and the diversion
of the existing cross-harbour watermains.
2.7.12
Reclamation in this area would commence in late 2004
and would be completed by end-2007. The
Trunk Road tunnel works would be completed by September 2008.
2.8
Related Projects
2.8.1
The following projects are related to the WDII
project:
(i) Territory Development Department's CRIII
project, comprising reclamation along the Central waterfront for transport
infrastructure needs (including CWB and NIL) and basic land use
requirements. Construction will take
place from August 2002 to March 2007.
(ii) Highways Department's CWB & IECL
project, for the construction of the Trunk Road (which comprises the CWB and
the IECL) from Rumsey Street Flyover Extension in Central to the IEC in
Causeway Bay. The construction of the
CWB tunnel structures through WDII will be entrusted to the WDII project. Construction will commence in March 2004 and
the project will be completed in February 2012.
(iii) Highways Department's Causeway Bay Flyover
project, which will be constructed from May 2003 to February 2006.