IF French National Day is most usually associated with the start of demolition of the infamous Bastille, it is also an opportunity to fete the more constructive and hospitable achievements of French citizens in Hongkong.
Even those unsure of what Dragages et Travaux Publics (DTP) stands for will recognise the distinctive ''D'' logo and tricolour that has marked the company's various projects around Hongkong - the twin towers and mall of Pacific Place, Cityplaza 3 and 4 at Taikoo Shing, Hongkong Park and the distinctive launching girder on the Kwun Tong bypass.
The firm's star project - the partly built Hongkong Stadium - was perhaps the most high profile of all at the Rugby Sevens this year.
The literal translation of the name is ''Dredging and Public Works'' and that was the skill which brought the company to Asia in the early 1900s to become one of the first main French contractors operating in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
Dragages' initial Hongkong contract was the Kai Tak airport runway in 1955 - the first to be built on a seabed.
Thirty-eight years later, Dragages is back once more at Kai Tak, this time with a taxiway bridge scheduled to open next month as part of the Kai Tai improvement scheme and the first fast-track design-and-build contract awarded by Hongkong's Civil Engineering Department.