ENG-1994 — Page 278

LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

standards of health and safety. The department launched initiatives in a number of areas, including information technology, human resource management, public education on building safety and management, and the publication of performance pledges. To examine the conditions and trends of corrosion of steel reinforcement in cantilevered structures built in the 1940s and 1950s, the department commissioned a consultancy study.

The programme of planned surveys of buildings for detailed inspection was taken further forward during the year when some 2 370 structures on the target list of 16 700 buildings were inspected by Buildings Department staff. As a result, 587 statutory orders were issued, requiring the repair or demolition of buildings.

The success achieved in the past two years in removing potentially dangerous appendages and unauthorised projections from buildings made it possible for large-scale clearances to be extended. Under 'Operation Catherine Wheel' and 'Operation Rolling Stone', 251 buildings were targeted and 27 540 projections and appendages cleared. Assistance was sought from the district boards and district offices to identify such projections and appendages.

Large air-conditioning cooling towers on metal frames, in unstable or poor condition and posing a threat to public safety, were another focus of the department's attention. The Buildings Department surveyed over 1 500 cooling towers in two industrial areas Chai Wan and San Po Kong — and identified nearly 280 potentially dangerous cooling towers or supporting frames for removal.

A number of tragic incidents during the heavy rainstorms in July highlighted the need for building owners and the government to jointly safeguard buildings and slopes from potential danger.

These included the slope failure at Kwun Lung Lau Estate in Smithfield and the canopy collapse in Aberdeen. The department arranged for emergency works at Kwun Lung Lau to be completed within two weeks. Statutory orders were issued requiring investigations and proposals for permanent remedial works. As for the canopy collapse in Aberdeen, remedial works have been completed. The department has renewed calls for the co-operation of owners in the timely maintenance and preventive repair of their buildings for their own sake and for public safety.

The partial collapse of a building under demolition at Nathan Road, which claimed six lives in September, prompted both the government and the private sector to take a critical look at the arrangements and resources available for supervising building works in general and demolition works in particular. In parallel with improvements to administrative procedures, the Buildings Department reviewed the law and other measures to strengthen the Building Authority's capacity for monitoring the practices and performance of the construction industry and the building professions. Legislative proposals for change had been drawn up by the end of 1994.

Following the gazetting of new outline zoning plans for the Kowloon peninsula at the end of 1993, redevelopment of the affected areas continued to gather momentum. Previously showing signs of urban decay, the areas were starting to show appreciable signs of rejuvenation.

Two records were broken in the area of new building development. Plans were approved for what is expected to be the tallest hotel in the world — a 92-storey building with some 2 000 rooms in Wan Chai. The largest reinforced concrete building in the world, a container

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