Fewer Hold Ups
Town Gas to Finish End of 2007
Of the numerous queries and grumbles that find themselves in the Explore mailbox each week, none have been more consistent over the last 3 years than that of the roadworks along Hiram’s Highway and Sai Sha Road.
Edward Lee, Senior Engineer for Town Gas told Explore that, despite a number of setbacks, the works are still on schedule to be completed by the end of this year.
The 24 km Eastern Transmission Pipeline (ETP) will not only provide a much needed supply of natural gas from Ho Chung through Sai Kung Town all the way to Ma On Shan, but its “ring-feed network system” will improve the security of the supply. This means that the need to bring the diggers in again (for Town Gas, at least) will be minimized.
After learning of the extremely constrained conditions under which they must operate in the Sai Kung District, we (who have done our share of complaining) sympathized with the company. Due to the already congested road conditions over the weekend and at rush hours, the Transport Department and the Police have restricted their work periods to six hour days (10am – 4pm) five days a week. During this time, they must dig up the road and cover it over again (with a steel plate to ensure proper support for heavy buses and trucks). These procedures take up a full two hours – leaving only 4 hours a day to actually advance on the project.
From the SK District Office we also heard that, acting upon residents’ wishes, they have recently asked the company to reduce the number of openings that they have in the road. The normal procedure is to have at least one km between openings but the government has recently asked them to dig only one area in each section (Hiram’s Highway and Sai Sha Road) in order to reduce vehicle backups.
Constraints are not only imposed by government but also by the nature of the Sai Kung area. In many other areas of the city they have choices but Mr. Lee mentioned that there is little alternative than these two main thoroughfares for the pipeline route to follow. In many places, the underground surface is so fragile that they must employ hand tools to preserve its integrity.
According to Mr. Lee, if you see more than one opening in a section of the road, it is likely that there is also work being done by the Water Supplies Department or another utility. They all share that same underground thoroughfare.
Mr. Lee extended the company’s apologies to Sai Kung residents and visitors alike. He said that they were doing their utmost to minimize the inconvenience to all while, at the same time increasing productivity to ensure a 2007 finish.