206.
The mainlaying contract formed part of stage two of the Tsing Yi development water supply project and had to proceed ahead of the roadworks contract for the construction of the second carriageway of road TY1 East because there was an urgent need to provide an adequate water supply to the industrial area and to meet fire fighting requirements. Although the mainlaying contract was let two years earlier than the roadworks contract, the Director of Water Supplies was aware of the proposed construction of the second carriageway of road TY1 East because in 1977, in connection with another waterworks contract on Tsing Yi Island, he had been advised by the Director of New Territories Development that the future vertical alignment of the second carriageway would not differ appreciably from the existing carriageway. Whilst the contract specification subsequently drawn up stipulated that the watermains were to be laid with a cover to final surface of one metre, the meaning of "final surface" was not clearly defined in the contract and the necessary vertical profile was not shown on the tender drawings. In this connection, in an internal Water Supplies Department memorandum in January 1980 at the time tenders were invited, the Chief Engineer, Design informed the Chief Engineer, Construction that the alignment and elevation of the pipelines would have to be determined by the Construction Division.
207.
In August 1980, four months after work on the mainlaying contract commenced, supervision of the works was assigned by the Director of Water Supplies to consultants, because of the critical staff situation in the Water Supplies Department. The important point concerning the proposed development of road TY1 East and the need to ascertain the elevation of the watermains was however not mentioned by the Director of Water Supplies in his handing-over notes to the consultants, who became responsible for the supervision of the mainlaying contract in September 1980 until the completion of works in September 1981.
208.
After discovery of the insufficient cover of the watermains in June 1982, the Director of Water Supplies sought an explanation from the mainlaying consultants as to why they made no enquiries regarding the proposed road levels and how the final surface was determined in the absence of precise information on the reference datum from where the one metre cover should be taken. The Director expressed the view that the mainlaying consultants should have clarified the matter with the parties concerned if they considered the information on the drawings was inadequate. In reply, in July 1982 the mainlaying
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