The Development Bureau has introduced a number of pilot projects for implementing Construction 2.0, aiming to secure Hong Kong’s established regional leadership position and long-term developments as well as to enhance the foundations of construction industry to ensure its forthgoing sustainability and prospects. There are three key pillars focused by Construction 2.0: Innovation, Professionalization and Revitalization.
Selected by the Development Bureau as one of the pilot projects for implementing Construction 2.0, this Project would adopt innovative construction methods and digitalization of site management through the applications of innovative technologies for benchmarking any improvement to the project performance achieved by the construction industry.
Application of Innovative Construction Technologies
The Project Team would adopt the off-site construction methodology for the advancement of the quality of the works and construction safety.
The Project Site Office was constructed by off-site modular approach. The concept of off-site modular approach is “factory assembly followed by on-site installation”. The assembly is tailor-made in factory before delivering on site for erection. Once the design had been formulated, the foundation construction for the office was undertaken on site. The modules production carried out at off-site fabrication yard was also commenced in parallel with foundation construction, which is the main advantageous characteristic of off-site modular approach. Erection by off-site modular approach also reduced construction wastes, resulted in enhanced site tidiness, improved working environment and site safety.
Off-site construction methodology would also be adopted for the construction of TSTP and new Sewage Treatment Works so that it can facilitate better-quality control of building components and equipment. For instance, reinforcement steel bars would be cut, fix and bend in the prefabrication yard and different building components and equipment would be fabricated in the factory.
Off-site construction methodology could reduce total construction time, enhance construction productivity, quality, safety and ultimately achieve sustainable development.
Digitalization of Site Management
During construction stage, various innovative technologies, including Building Information Modelling (BIM), sensors technologies, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), etc. would be implemented to automate data collection. Analysis of the data collected from various sensors could facilitate construction management and enable the Project Team to resolve problems at earlier stage, reduce construction cost while improving efficiency, quality and construction safety.
The Project Team use mobile app to digitalize the daily site management processes, including works supervision, safety management and quality inspection to enhance site management, and to facilitate site supervision by site staff. Data, including photos and construction progress, could be collected instantly with the use of the self-developed mobile app for easier consolidation and sharing. The Project Team can also receive real-time message on the latest progress of the construction to facilitate making timely and accurate decisions.
Furthermore, by analysing the data collected, the Project Team can accurately grasp the performance of engineering projects in different areas for further improvement, including enhancement on quality, safety and productivity.