The Eagle's Nest Tunnel stretches 2.1 kilometres underground between Cheung Sha Wan and Sha Tin. Working on the construction of the tunnel offered Clayton Chan, a principal engineer with AECOM, the chance to gain extensive experience and learn new techniques.
'I had the opportunity to [be involved in the] design of the site formation - the slope retaining wall and the tunnel portal,' Chan says. 'Because I was involved in the design stage, my boss sent me to work on the tunnel. I had the chance to work on explosives and to see how to control the water inflow.'
Many new infrastructure projects in Hong Kong and across Asia are offering engineers opportunities to build similar experience. AECOM, for example, is looking to fill more than 250 positions in Asia, including engineers, architects, landscape designers, economists and technical directors. 'For the next 12 months, the demand will grow,' says Dimi Crossley, talent acquisition manager for AECOM in Asia. 'We have a lot of project bids in the pipeline and, if we win them, we will need to recruit heavily.'
As the company is involved in MTR extension projects and other slope projects in Hong Kong, it especially needs geotechnical engineers. For its work on the Hong Kong-Shenzhen-Guangzhou Express Rail Link and the Chennai Metro project in India, it needs transportation, infrastructure and structural engineers.
Crossley says the company's wide range of projects and its multidisciplinary nature mean that employees gain excellent exposure and the chance to work with specialists. The roles are also attractive, she adds, because engineers get to work on large, high-impact projects.
'If you conceive something on a piece of paper, to see it materialise into, say, a park or a building is a very personal satisfaction,' she says.