Cyberport Development Project
The construction site was one of the largest construction sites on Hong Kong Island.
Environmental Concern
Potential air, noise, wastes and water impacts arising from the huge construction sites on the nearby sensitive receivers, eg. the nearby waterbody, schools & residential development at Baguio Villa were the major environmental concerns.
Measures Adopted
Administration - Regular contacts among contractors, consultants, developer, environmental team and site supervision staff were maintained to enhance good communication and working relationship resulting in environmental complaints be resolved smoothly and quickly.
Restriction - Noisy operations were conducted only between 8:00-18:00 instead of 7:00-19:00 permitted under the Noise Control Ordinance to minimise noise impact on nearby residents.
New Idea of concrete batching - A totally enclosed concrete batching plant (first of its kind) and no concreting after 18:00 hours was adopted to reduce the associated air / noise nuisance.
Noise barriers - Noise barriers were used and noisy construction works were rescheduled in different stages to minimise the noise nuisance.
Wastewater Treatment - On-site sewage treatment plant was installed instead of septic tanks to treat the office wastewater. Suitable sedimentation facilities were provided to treat muddy water.
Dust Cover - The exposed soil surface were either sprinkled or covered by linen cloth to reduce dust.
Monitoring - Frequent monitoring was conducted to ensure compliance with environmental requirements.
Recycling - A waste management plan was implemented to reduce and reuse on-site construction waste.
Observations & Achievements
1) Early liaison with the contractors, developer and other relevant parties has proved effective in establishing partnership programmes. Regular liaison with IO of Baguio Villa offers communication channel on project. All these help resolve environmental concerns.
2) The mutual agreement of shorter plant-operation hours was welcomed by the nearby residents.
3) The first of the kind totally enclosed concrete batching plant is acceptable to all the residents.
4) Provision of noise barriers, quiet construction equipment and rescheduling of the noisy works in stages lowered the daytime noise level.
5) The on-site sewage treatment plants and the sedimentation lagoon are effective to control and contain the potential water pollution problem.
6) With partnership programme and various control measures in place, complaints lodged with EPD were minimal.
