Date, time & venue 
2011-04-07;6:30-8:00pm;Seminar Room, HKIE HQ

Programme Highlights

The Wan Chai Development Phase II (WDII) project is the final phase of the Central and Wan Chai Reclamation projects.  The key purpose of WDII is to provide land in Wan Chai North and North Point for the construction of a much needed Central-Wan Chai Bypass for resolving the existing traffic congestion problem along the Connaught Road Central, Harcourt Road and Gloucester Road corridor. The land formed along the shoreline incidental to the Bypass construction offers opportunities for harbourfront improvement.

The WDII project is a mega-scale project with high complexity. It inevitably involves many technical challenges. The WDII works and the Bypass would be constructed over the MTR Tsuen Wan Line and below the Cross Harbour Tunnel. Ensuring the continuous operation of these infrastructures during the construction works is one of the many challenges of the project. Construction works have commenced since end 2009 for envisaged completion in 2017 to facilitate the commissioning of the Bypass.

The WDII project has several special features.  To name a few, it provided an opportunity for the Court to clarify the interpretation of the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance and to lay down the “overriding public need test” that any reclamation in Victoria Harbour would need to satisfy before it could proceed.  The WDII project was also one of the pioneers of moving from “public consultation” to “public engagement” in gauging the public opinions.

This seminar will cover the major aspects in the planning and delivery of the WDII project and discuss some technical challenges of its implementation