at the time of writing, China is grappling with pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong. The demonstrations are a reaction to Beijing’s plans to vet candidates for the Special Administrative Region’s 2017 leadership elections. Hundreds of arrests have been made, while in Taiwan, solidarity protestors have gathered outside of the Hong Kong cultural office. China has a dilemma. While it fears the protests will spread to the mainland, it is reluctant to be seen as authoritarian by sending troops to confront students. The mega-state is also bound by a 1984 agreement with Britain to grant Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy for 50 years after the 1997 handover. As Tunnels goes to print, Beijing is treading softly, leaving matters to the police, and acting through state-run media.

GoinG Green without a scene

But bold moves are more the superpower’s métier. And bold investment decisions will be needed to address future requirements according to Mott MacDonald’s China MD, Paul Jenkins. "Take Taiwan. Taoyuan City’s Green Line is potentially a very interesting upcoming project. CECI did the concept design, and the plan is for the northwest end of the line to link in with an Aerotropolis; a new urban area built around a central airport.

"The route is 5km tunnelled, with the remainder elevated, and is due to open by 2022. However, my view is that by then, the world may have begun to change with regards to public transport use.

"I have given a number of presentations to the city’s mayor giving my concerns. We have to wake up to the fact that the world will change in 20 years. Metro is meant to last 100 years and we’ve got to think about how appropriate the infrastructure we build is. Aerotropolis will be a ‘Smart City’. It likely won’t have cars going freely around, as they block all alternative transport and blight a city.

"A modern solution is needed, a fully integrated transport system with shared use of space; station and public space combinations. This sort of thing won’t be in place by 2025, but might be by 2035. And it is inconvenient to interchange with deep metro."

Jenkins adds that the expected passenger flow of 4,000 per hour is more in the domain of light rail requirements, and that the capital cost would not be paid off by patronage, and would be a continual drain on resources.

However, with a November election looming, a u-turn by government is not likely. In fact, to show progress, Project Construction Management tenders have gone out as EPC tenders will not come back in time.

Jenkins believes there is a lot of opportunity for value engineering, particularly when the long term is considered.

HigH-speed jitters

Back on the mainland, high-speed rail projects are still a major portion of the work engaged in by foreign companies. At any one time, China has 5,000km under construction, and has a rule that any route designed to run trains that exceed 350kph requires foreign construction supervision.

A series of four high-speed rail lines are expected to be released in the near future, and there was a lot of industry fear that Chinese experience might lead to this rule being dropped. Fortunately, and to general surprise in the industry, this didn’t happen.

Jenkins adds, "On balance the clients felt good value was obtained from the present system, and so it continues. "In the last few years, longer routes between cities that were on hold have been resurrected, we have another high-speed rail push. The government has announced 80 PPP jobs recently, one of which is HSR. That’s unusual, allowing the private sector to invest in a line."

LocaL summary

David Gutteridge, Mott MacDonald’s practice leader for transportation gives an overview of the wider area. "In Singapore we have had the cable tunnels, and what is now called the Thomson East Coast Line as the most significant work on the island. In Malaysia, it is Kuala Lumpur Lines One and Two, and in Hong Kong we have various MRT projects, mostly in a design and construct format.

"In Indonesia, our major project is the Jakarta MRT with a Japanese contractor. And in China of course the most significant work we have is on the high-speed rail routes. Usually very big projects.

"In terms of upcoming work that we’re looking at, in Singapore there is the Cross Island Line, which Arup has been undertaking the initial studies for, as well as the Jurong Region Line.

"In Hong Kong, the West Island Line is approaching completion. Some 40 per cent of the company’s turnover comes from transportation, so these projects are significant to us. There’s a lot of work in the region, and obviously a lot of these sort of projects take a significant amount of time. "There’s more work than available resources, and so one of our key activities is investment in future project leaders. On the job training for these young engineers is key."

InteLLigent design

Gutteridge adds that something he is seeing more and more across transportation is the uptake of BIM. In tunnelling terms in China, Jenkins is not so sure however. "BIM is certainly being talked about a lot here. We’re doing a factory that makes use of it, and we’ve looked at a Shanghai Metro station, but in the end the Design Institute did it themselves. It is early days for BIM here, there’s not much of it in evidence, but I expect to see a rapid uptake."

Extensive use of smart cards, for example in Taiwan public transport, has also allowed for the creation of very accurate traffic patterns. The local "Easy Car". It’s possible to tailor a system to match the specific local requirements.

Exodus

The world is short of engineers. The Tunnels office in London is regularly blasted with press releases lamenting the local shortfalls of engineering graduates, but the trend is worldwide. "Except for China," says Jenkins. "If the world comes out of recession in a big way, there are not enough engineers to cover the amount of work that could result. Except in China. And we may see the Chinese replacing some of the internationals.

"We are leaving China with Chinese partners in some cases now. For example, we have rail work in Mexico and Uganda, and opportunities in the power sector in Central Europe. The companies bring the money with them. And there are so many opportunities, that we build relationships wherever we can