For discussion PWSC(96-97)70
on 4 December 1996

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 703 - BUILDINGS
Education - Secondary
208ES - Secondary school in area 3, Tai Po

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 208ES to Category A at an estimated cost of $72.9 million in money-of-the-day prices for the construction of a secondary school in area 3, Tai Po.

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PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
LAND ACQUISITION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A comparison of standard cost of a secondary school project with the estimated cost of 208ES

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PROBLEM

There will be a shortfall of 148 secondary school classes in the territory by 1998.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Architectural Services (D Arch S), with the support of the Secretary for Education and Manpower, proposes to upgrade 208ES to Category A at an estimated cost of $72.9 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the construction of a secondary school in area 3, Tai Po.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The proposed school will be of the standard design. The school will comprise -

1. 26 classrooms;
2. 14 special rooms;
3. three remedial teaching rooms;
4. a guidance activity/interview room;
5. two interview rooms;
6. a staff common room;
7. a student activity centre; and
8. an assembly hall and ancillary facilities.

JUSTIFICATION

4. The Director of Education forecasts that there will be a shortfall of 148 secondary school classes in the territory by 1998. Upon the completion of 207ES "Third secondary school in Siu Sai Wan, Chai Wan", 210ES "Secondary school in area 25, Tseung Kwan O"¹ and 206ES "Secondary school in area 40, Fanling"² in 1998, the supply of secondary school places in the territory will be increased by 90 classes. There will still be a shortfall of 58 classes. As a temporary measure to meet the shortfall, we are adopting floating classes in secondary schools. In accordance with the Government policy to phase out floating classes in Secondary One to Secondary Five, we propose to construct a secondary school in area 3, Tai Po to reduce the shortfall. We are planning more schools in the territory to meet the remaining shortfall.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

5. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $72.9 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 6 below), made up as follows -

A comparison of the standard cost of a secondary school with the project estimate of the proposed school is at the Enclosure.

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

7. We have derived the MOD estimates on the basis of the Government’s forecast of trend labour and construction prices for the period 1997 to 2000. We will tender the project under a fixed-price lump-sum contract because we can clearly define the scope of works in advance, leaving little room for uncertainty.

8. We estimate the annually recurrent expenditure for the school to be $33.2 million. As the new school will be an aided school, the sponsoring body will bear the costs of furniture and equipment, estimated at $5 million.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

9. We consulted the Tai Po District Board in October 1996. Members supported the project.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

10. The consultants of D Arch S completed and the Director of Environmental Protection vetted the Preliminary Environmental Review (PER) in November 1996. The PER concluded that the proposed school would be subject to traffic noise impact in excess of the standards stipulated in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines.

11. We will implement the following noise abatement measures -

1. construction of 2.7 metres high solid-fence wall along Tai Po Tai Wo Road;
2. provision of Type I well-gasketted windows³ with air-conditioning at 17 classrooms and five function rooms in the classroom block, and at all classrooms and function rooms in the special room block;
3. provision of Type II well-gasketted double-glazed windows⁴ with air-conditioning at seven classrooms in the classroom block; and
4. provision of fixed windows to replace those louvres at the corridor side of all the classrooms and function rooms facing Tai Po Tai Wo Road.

We have included in the project estimate the estimated cost of $1.7 million required for implementing the above measures.

12. For short term construction impacts, we will control noise, dust and site run-off nuisances during construction to comply with established criteria through the implementation of mitigation measures in the relevant contracts.

LAND ACQUISITION

13. The project does not require land acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

14. We included 208ES in Category B in July 1996.

15. We have completed site investigations for the project. We are finalizing working drawings and tender documents using in-house staff. We plan to start the construction works in March 1997 for completion in August 1998.

(DD1061)

1 -- At its meeting on 6 November 1996, PWSC recommended to upgrade both 207ES and 210ES to Category A. Finance Committe will consider this recommendation on 29 November 1996.
2 -- At its meeting on 20 November 1996, PWSC recommended to upgrade 206ES to Category A. Finance Committee will consider this recommendation at its meeting on 13 December 1996.
3 -- Type I windows offer extra noise attenuation compared to conventional window types by means of the thicker and heavier glass pane, and the well-gasketted frame minimises leakage of noise around the window edges.
4 -- Type II windows provide additional noise insulation through the use of two 6mm thick panes with a 150mm air gap.

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Enclosure to PWSC(96-97)70

A comparison of standard cost of a secondary school project with the estimated cost of 208ES

*Assumptions for standard cost

1. No site formation work/geotechnical work is required as it is normally carried out under a separate engineering vote.

2. Piling cost is based on 130 nos. of steel H-piles of an average depth of 30 metres.

3. Cost for drainage and external works is for a standard school site area of 6 950 square metres built on a flat site. No diversion of existing utilities or noise mitigation measures are required.

4. No consultancy services are required.

5. Furniture and equipment cost is excluded as it is usually borne by the sponsoring body.

Notes

A. The piling cost is higher because the proposed project requires 130 nos. of steel H-piles driving to an average depth of 40 metres to suit the site condition.

B. The building cost is higher because the provision of double-glazed windows is required as a noise mitigation measure.

C. The building services cost is higher because the provision of air-conditioning is required as a noise mitigation measure.

D. The cost for drainage and external works is lower due to a smaller site area which is 6 035 square metres.

E. The amount of contingencies has been adjusted to reflect the change in the total construction cost.

(DD1061)

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