For discussion PWSC(96-97)25
on 26 June 1996

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 707 - NEW TOWNS AND URBAN AREA DEVELOPMENT
New Territories West Development
(Civil Engineering - Land development)
423CL - Tuen Mun New Town engineering development, formation, roads and drains in area 52 (remainder), and footbridge across Road D9

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee -

(a) the upgrading of part of 423CL, entitled "Footbridge, roads and drains in area 52 (part), Tuen Mun", to Category A at an estimated cost of $222.6 million in money-of-the-day prices; and

(b) the retention of the remaining part of 423CL, retitled "Formation, roads and drains in area 52 (remainder), Tuen Mun", in Category B.

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PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
LAND ACQUISITION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
423CL - Tuen Mun New Town engineering development, formation, roads and drains in Area 52 (remainder), and footbridge across Road D9

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PROBLEM

We need to provide pedestrian crossings, roads and drains to serve the future developments in area 52, Tuen Mun.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Territory Development, with the support of the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, proposes to upgrade part of 423CL to Category A at an estimated cost of $222.6 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the construction of a footbridge, roads and drains in area 52, Tuen Mun.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The original scope of 423CL comprises -

1. site formation of ten hectares of land;
2. construction of local distributor roads with associated sewerage and drainage works in area 52. These roads include Roads L52C, L52D, L52G and part of L52A; and
3. construction of a pedestrian footbridge across Road D9.

4. The part of 423CL we now propose to upgrade to Category A comprises -

1. construction of local distributor Road L52C and part of Road L52A, with associated footway, cycleway, drains and sewers;
2. construction of a 525-metre long three-cell (3 500 millimetres x 3 500 millimetres each) box culvert and an 80-metre long single cell (2 800 millimetres x 2 800 millimetres) box culvert; and
3. construction of a footbridge with a span of 45 metres across Road D9.

JUSTIFICATION

5. In conjunction with private developers, we hope to complete the planned developments in area 52, Tuen Mun, progressively by the year 2000. These developments include the campus area and sports grounds of Lingnan College, private residential development and public housing projects. Upon completion, the area will accommodate about 22 000 residents. We need to provide adequate infrastructural facilities to serve the area.

6. We propose to construct Road L52C and a portion of Road L52A together with associated footway, cycleway, drains and sewers. These roads will connect the eastern part of area 52 with Road D9 which is a major road in the area. In addition, we will construct a footbridge across Road D9 to provide a safe pedestrian crossing which can cope with anticipated pedestrian flow up to the year 2011. The footbridge will have a design capacity of 7 800 pedestrians per hour in both directions.

7. We completed a drainage impact assessment in 1995 on the fully developed area 52, Tuen Mun. It concluded that Fu Hang Nullah would not have adequate capacity to drain rain water away from the area. The option of widening the Nullah is not possible because the existing Yuen Long Highway runs across it. To solve the problem, we need to construct box culverts as described in paragraph 4(b) above to provide a direct outlet to Tuen Mun Nullah. The project needs to tie in with the construction of a single cell box culvert under project 462CL "Formation of public housing site and construction of access road in area 52, Tuen Mun", which will start in July 1996 for completion in December 1997.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

8. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $222.6 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 9 below), made up as follows -

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

10. We have derived the MOD estimate on the basis of the Government's forecasts of trend labour and construction prices for the period 1996 to 2000. We will tender the works under a fixed-price lump-sum contract because we have firm quantities for the majority of the works. As the contract period is less than 21 months, the contract will not provide for adjustments to the tender price due to inflation.

11. We estimate the annually recurrent expenditure to be $2.65 million, of which $7,000 (in respect of the sewerage works) will be charged to the Sewage Services Trading Fund. In accordance with the resolution passed by the Legislative Council in July 1995 on the appropriation of assets to the Trading Fund, the sewerage works under the project will, upon completion, become assets in the Fund valued at cost.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

12. We consulted the Environmental Improvement and District Development Committee of the Tuen Mun District Board on the proposed works in September 1994. The Committee had no objection to the proposal.

13. We gazetted the proposed roadworks under Roads (Works, Use and Compensation) Ordinance in January 1996 and received no objection.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

14. The Director of Environmental Protection completed an Environmental Review for the project in March 1995 and concluded that the proposed works would not have long term environmental impacts. For short term impacts, we will include standard pollution control clauses in the contract to control dust, noise and site run-off nuisances during construction.

LAND ACQUISITION

15. We will resume 0.45 hectares of agricultural land. The clearance will affect seven families involving 13 people. The Director of Housing will offer these families accommodation in line with the existing policy. We will charge the cost of land acquisition and clearance estimated at $20.8 million to Head 701 - Land Acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

16. We included 423CL in Category B in July 1994 for the formation and servicing of land in area 52, Tuen Mun.

17. In February 1996, the Finance Committee approved the upgrading of part of 423CL to Category A as 462CL at an estimated cost of $107 million in MOD prices. We will start the works in July 1996 for completion in December 1997.

18. We have engaged consultants to undertake the investigations and design for the part of 423CL we now propose to upgrade to Category A. The consultants have completed the detailed design and drawings. We have charged the cost of $5.52 million to the block allocation Subhead 7008CX ¹ "Consultants' fees and charges and major in-house investigations for new towns and urban area development projects".

19. The proposed works are scheduled to start in November 1996 for completion in June 1998.

20. We plan to implement the remaining part of 423CL starting from late 1998 for phased completion by December 2000.

1 -- We have replaced the former block allocation Subhead 7008CX with a new block allocation subhead 7100CX " New towns and urban area works, studies and investigations for items selected in Category D of the Public Works Programme" since 1 April 1996. The new block allocation was approved by the Finance Committee on 8 March 1996.

(JJ101)

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Enclosure to PWSC(96-97)25

423CL - Tuen Mun New Town engineering development, formation, roads and drains in Area 52 (remainder), and footbridge across Road D9

Breakdown of the estimate for consultants' fees for construction stage

Notes

1. A multiplier factor of 3 is applied to the average MPS point to arrive at the full staff costs including the consultant's overheads and profit, as the staff will be employed in the consultant's offices (At 1.4.95, MPS pt. 40 = $51,440 p.m. and MPS pt. 16 = $17,270 p.m.)
2. The figures given above are based on estimates prepared by the Director of Territory Department. The consultancy work for this project has been included as part of the overall consultancy agreement for New Town Development at Tuen Mun.

(JJ101)

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