Irregularities at Hong Kong’s costliest rail link worse than previously indicated in high-profile inquiry, experts find
- Expert adviser team estimated the Hung Hom station of the HK$90.7 billion Sha Tin-Central link had 700 shortened, defective reinforcement bars
- Team tasked with probing a series of allegations of shoddy work and missing safety documents at the site and providing expert advice on link construction
Irregularities at Hong Kong’s costliest rail link were worse than a high-level investigation had previously indicated, according to government-appointed experts who branded the problems “unacceptable” and “unusual”.
In a 428-page final report released this week, the expert adviser team comprised of three former officials estimated the Hung Hom station of the HK$90.7 billion (US$11.7 billion) Sha Tin-Central link had 700 shortened, defective steel reinforcement bars, or 3.3 per cent of the total on site, and that 1,900, or 8.9 per cent, of couplers were unconnected.
“It should be visually obvious on site that these unconnected ‘coupler connections’ are unacceptable. In a properly managed and supervised site, it is very unusual that such a significant number of unconnected couplers could go unnoticed and unrectified,” it said.
The team was tasked with probing a series of allegations of shoddy work and missing safety documents at the site exposed in May 2018, and providing expert advice on the link’s construction.
One key allegation under examination was that reinforcement bars, or rebar, had been cut short to fake proper installation into couplers on the station platform.