Hong Kong’s railway operator can use high-strength concrete to rectify the structure of dozens of defective columns at a station under construction, an engineer and a construction sector leader have said, describing the shoddy work as a “basic mistake”.
Their remarks came after the Buildings Department revealed on Saturday that about 30 columns at the Tung Chung West MTR station were defective because the concrete failed to reach the upper ceiling, leaving steel reinforcement bars exposed.
Engineering sector lawmaker Aaron Bok Kwok-ming, deputy chairman of the Legislative Council’s railways subcommittee, said the contractor could fill the gaps with higher-strength concrete, such as non-shrink grout, to restore adequate structural support.