lengths between 28 and 69 meters; 45 large diameter bored piles in
lengths between 35 and 95 meters and more than 1,000 pre-drilled
holes. The engineering team conducted testing throughout the
construction process, including weld tests, PDA testing, CAPWAP
analysis and load tests for the driven steel H-piles. For socketed
steel H-piles, grout coring tests and load tests were carried out to
prove the pile quality. Sonic echo logging tests, interface coring
tests and full coring tests were also implemented to ensure sound
concrete quality in bored piles.
At the peak of construction, 62 crawler cranes, 39 dedicated piling
rigs and 21 hydraulic hammers were deployed on the project
site along with 540 on-site workers, including 180 welders.
HEAVY MARINE & WATERFRONT CONSTRUCTION
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Challenges
The scarcity of rock socketed H-piles was not the only constraint
that the project team had to tackle. Crawler cranes, piling rigs and
workers, especially welders, were also in short supply due to the
other concurrent large-scale projects in Hong Kong.
To overcome these challenges, the entire project team had to
work closely to ensure that procurement procedures, construction
planning and work sequences were scheduled meticulously
and that the entire project was kept on track. In total, more than
70 companies from multiple disciplines around the world were
involved in the construction of KTSP, many of which were global
leaders with extensive experience in the design, construction and
operation of large-scale projects and the management of major
sports venues.
The huge site itself posed significant challenges, with difficult
geological conditions, including more than 100 meters of rock
below the ground surface at some areas with localized fault zones.
Engineers had to redesign the location layout of the piles, calculate
the support force and then relocate piles to spread over the
fault zone.
Further complicating the logistics of the project, the piling
works had to be conducted within close proximity to the existing
Kai Tak Tunnel, a transportation tunnel that runs underneath the
site at shallow depth connecting the Kowloon Bay and Ma Tau
Kok areas. The foundation works could only be conducted beyond
a certain distance from the face of the tunnel, creating constraints
INTERNATIONAL PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
82 | ISSUE 1 2021 www.piledrivers.org
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