For discussion PWSC(95-96)73
on 10 January 1996

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 706 - HIGHWAYS
Transport - Roads
572TH - Noise reducing highway surfacing on Island Eastern Corridor, Princess Margaret Road, Kwun Tong Road and Tai Po Road

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 572TH to Category A at an estimated cost of $30.7 million in money-of-the-day prices for the provision of noise reducing highway surfacing material to four sections of roads in the Territory.

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PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
LAND ACQUISITION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION

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PROBLEM

About 3 300 dwellings close to the four sections of roads of Island Eastern Corridor near Harbour Heights Tower, Princess Margaret Road near Oi Man Estate, Kwun Tong Road near Telford Garden and Tai Po Road near Wai Wah Centre are subject to high noise levels generated by road traffic.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Highways (D of Hy), with the support of the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, proposes to upgrade 572TH to Category A at an estimated cost of $30.7 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the provision of noise reducing highway surfacing material to the four sections of roads listed in paragraphs 3(a) to 3(d) below.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The scope of the project involves the laying of noise reducing highway surfacing material to the following four sections of roads in the Territory -

1. Island Eastern Corridor near Harbour Heights Tower, Causeway Bay;
2. Princess Margaret Road near Oi Man Estate, Homantin;
3. Kwun Tong Road near Telford Garden, Kowloon Bay; and
4. Tai Po Road near Wai Wah Centre, Sha Tin.

JUSTIFICATION

4. Noise from high speed traffic in built-up areas is a serious environmental problem in Hong Kong. In November 1987, D of Hy with the assistance of the Director of Environmental Protection (DEP) conducted a trial scheme which involved placing a noise reducing highway surfacing material on a 300 metre long section of Island Eastern Corridor. The result indicated that we could achieve a noise reduction of 5 dB(A) after application of the material¹. We have since applied noise reducing highway surfacing material to a total of 14 road sections identified by DEP. The work has brought relief to some 11 000 nearby dwellings.

5. Some 3 300 dwellings in the vicinity of the four road sections listed in paragraph 3 are exposed to a very high level of traffic noise ranging from 80 to 84 dB(A). We propose to repave these road sections with noise reducing highway surfacing material because they meet the conditions² to realise the full benefits of this material. DEP estimates that we will be able to achieve a reduction of five decibels.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

6. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $30.7 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 7 below), made up as follows -

7. Subject to approval, we will phase expenditure as follows -

8. We derive the MOD estimate on the basis of the Government’s forecasts of trend labour and construction prices over the period between 1996 and 1999. We will tender the works under a fixed-price lump-sum contract. We adopt a lump-sum basis as we can define clearly the scope of works in advance, leaving little room for uncertainty. The contract will not provide for adjustments to the tender price due to inflation as the contract period is less than 21 months.

9. We estimate the annually recurrent expenditure of the project to be $4.2 million.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

10. We consulted the Traffic and Transport Committee (TTC) of the relevant District Boards on the proposed works for the four sections of roads. Details are as follows -

The Committees supported the proposed works.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

11. This project will reduce the traffic noise exposure level of about 3 300 dwellings close to the four sections of roads listed in paragraph 3. DEP conducted an Environmental Review in September 1994 and concluded that the project would have no long term environmental impact. For short term impacts, D of Hy will control dust and noise impacts during construction through the implementation of mitigation measures in the contract.

LAND ACQUISITION

12. This project does not require land acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

13. We upgraded the project to Category B in September 1995. We have completed the detailed design and preparation of tender documents for the project using in-house resources.

14. We plan to carry out the proposed works according to the following schedule -

15. We will carry out the surfacing work around the clock to minimise the construction time once the road section is fenced off. In addition, we will maintain 2 traffic lanes at all times during the implementation of the surfacing work.

16. The noise reducing surfacing is not as durable as conventional road surfacing. We will need to consider replacing the noise reducing surfacing after about 5 years.

1 -- The effect is equivalent to a reduction of the noise level generated byt wo-third of the original traffic flow on these sections of roads.
2 -- To realize the full benefits of the noise reducing highway surfacing material, the roac section -

1. should be relatively level;
2. should originally be paved with brushed concrete or other similar non-open textured surfacing mateial;
3. must carry smooth high speed traffic with low percentage of heavy vehicles; and
4. from which the traffic noise is a dominant noise source.

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