Topic > Hong Kong International Airport and How It Was Built

Hong Kong International Airport, also known as Chek Lap Kok Airport and HKIA, is located on Chek Lap Kok, a strategically located man-made island that it measures three and a half miles by two miles (Foster + Partners, 2016). As one of the largest and most ambitious projects in the civil engineering sector, the construction of HKIA took six years – from 1992 to 1998 – and required a total investment of more than $20 billion (Kable Intelligence Ltd., 2016). Due to its complexity, the project had to be divided into ten distinct projects and involved over two hundred contracts, multiple sponsors, and a significantly large international workforce (Kable Intelligence Ltd., 2016; Major Projects Association, 2001). plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Purpose-built to replace Kai Tak Airport, HKIA was intended to meet China's growing demand for multimodal connections and become one of the region's major cargo gateways. passenger airports (Foster + Partners, 2016a; Major Projects Association, 2001). In 2014, it handled over four million tonnes of cargo and more than 60 million passengers, making it one of the busiest airports in the world (Airport Authority Hong Kong, 2016a; Airports Council International, 2015). In light of its advantageous location, modern facilities and continuous growth, it has even been estimated that its annual passenger traffic will reach 80 million by 2040 (Foster + Partners, 2016a). To date, HKIA's leisure facilities and services include approximately 200 shops and restaurants, free Wi-Fi lounge areas, paid Internet lounge areas, televisions and even an area where children can play (Kable Intelligence Ltd., 2016). Due to its world-class facilities, HKIA has been ranked among the top five airports in the world since 2002 (Kable Intelligence Ltd., 2016). One of its key strengths lies in its excellent multimodal transportation network that connects HKIA to numerous strategic destinations throughout Hong Kong and mainland China (Kable Intelligence Ltd., 2016). The Airport Authority is aware of the positive impact that the airport's multimodal connections have on its operational efficiency, performance and attractiveness to both domestic and international passengers (The Airport Authority Hong Kong, 2016a). As a result of growing passenger demand for fast and efficient transportation services, the Airport Authority will continue to improve HKIA's connections, which currently include cross-border buses, limousines, ferries and other convenient options (The Airport Authority Hong Kong, 2016a ). As reported by China Trend Building Press (2011), the international consortium that won the HKIA project consisted of five large companies, namely Amec International Construction Ltd (UK), CSCEC (China), Kumagai Gumi Co., Ltd (Japan) and Maeda Corporation (Japan), who formed a joint venture called BCJ JV responsible for the construction of nearly 90 elevators, 1.5 miles of moving walkways (also known as treadmills), over 70 jet bridges and nearly 250 check-in desk (China Trend Building Press, 2011). To start the construction of the airport, over 900 hectares of land between the islands of Chek Lap Kok and Lam Chau were reclaimed and a high peak located on Chek Lap Kok had to be reduced from 100 to 7 meters (Foster + Partners, 2016a). China Trend Building Press, 2011). Specifically, the site on which the airport platform stands was obtained by razing two pre-existing islands and carrying out a dredged reclamation (Covil, 1998, pp. 197-200). As explained by Covil(1998, pp. 197-200), although a drained reclamation was perfectly feasible, the project had to be completed quickly, which made it necessary for the consortium to opt for a completely dredged reclamation, which would have required less time to construct compared to an emptied one.Under the site preparation contract, the site preparation phase lasted two and a half years and involved a variety of different techniques, including mud dredging, dam building and mining (Covil, 1998). Despite the numerous technical obstacles that faced being overcome in order to deliver the project on time, the consortium faced a number of political challenges that threatened the successful completion of HKIA (Major Projects Association, 2001). Since Hong Kong was due to be handed over to China in 1997, the project helped fuel tensions between the two powers, thus preventing investors from financing the project and making it impossible to create an airport authority before 1995 (Major Projects Association, 2001 ).Similar to Stansted Airport, which revolutionized airport terminal design with its lightweight roof and flowing structure, HKIA also features a canopy that lets in a significant amount of natural light, thus offering passengers a memorable and spectacular air travel experience (Foster + Partners, 2016a; 2016b). Its internal structure, spacious and bright, was created by positioning all the technical equipment below the main concourse, i.e. the building that allows passengers to reach the planes through the gates (Foster + Partners, 2016a). To date, HKIA consists of two large terminals and two runways, and is connected to nearly 200 domestic and international destinations (Hong Kong Airport Authority, 2016a). Employing approximately 65,000 people, HKIA contributes significantly to Hong Kong's economy and its presence has benefited the local community since it began operations in 1998 (Hong Kong Airport Authority, 2016a). The airport is managed and administered by the Hong Kong Kong Airport Authority (also known as AA), an institution wholly owned by the Hong Kong government (Hong Kong Airport Authority, 2016b). In addition to managing the airport's operations, AA is also responsible for its growth and development and takes its social and environmental duties very seriously (Hong Kong Airport Authority, 2016b). AA is committed to meeting the needs of various stakeholders by keeping HKIA efficient, safe and in line with the latest technological innovations, ensuring passenger safety, making effective investments, adhering to environmentally friendly solutions and practices, promoting the interests of its employees and contributing to the well-being of the entire community (Hong Kong Airport Authority, 2016b). To ensure that the airport is ready to handle an ever-increasing number of passengers, AA is currently planning the construction of a third runway, thanks to which the annual HKIA capacity is expected to reach 100 million travellers, 9 million tonnes of cargo and over 600,000 flights within the next fourteen years (Hong Kong Airport Authority, 2016a). Over the decades, many scholars and experts have developed models and frameworks aimed at helping practitioners evaluate project success. As explained by Muller & Turner (2007, p. 299), much of the existing project management literature argues that project success consists of two main components or dimensions, namely project success factors and criteria. The former include all those aspects of a project that can be managed and manipulated in such a way as to maximize the chances of success; thelatter refer to dimensions that help determine the extent to which a project has actually been successful (Muller & Turner, 2007, p. 299). As Serrador (2014) pointed out, although more and more companies are starting to realize that stakeholder satisfaction has a profound impact on the successful outcome of their projects, most project managers still associate project success with criteria related to efficiency. To explore project managers' attitudes towards evaluating project success, Muller & Turner (2007) asked several project managers to rate the importance and usefulness of ten success criteria, including performance and stakeholder satisfaction. Their responses revealed that time, budget, and user-defined goals were widely considered much more important than stakeholder satisfaction (Muller & Turner, 2007). That said, recent research has clearly shown that technical performance and stakeholder satisfaction are equally important. and highly correlated success criteria (Serrador, 2014, pp. 24-25). In terms of efficient and technical performance, the HKIA project was certainly successful as it was delivered on time and on budget (Hong Kong International Airport, 2011) . It is also worth mentioning that the final result (persistent deliverable) was in line with the original Hong Kong Airport Core Program and that the project team even managed to save around US$1 billion (Bechtel, 2016). Regarding stakeholder needs and expectations, the airport's impact on contractors, end users, government and the local community has been mostly positive. Considering the size, visibility and innovativeness of the HKIA project, contractors had the opportunity to bid on sizable contracts while enhancing their reputations. As reported by Kable Intelligence Ltd. (2016), BCJ JV was awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build the main passenger terminal; three large subcontracts were awarded to a Chinese-Italian-British joint venture, a French company and a Hong Kong-based elevator/escalator manufacturer. Other contracts were awarded to Lindner KG (Germany), Paul Y (Hong Kong), Wenco International Mining Systems (Canada), Fujitsu's ICL (Japan), SigNet (USA), a joint venture between Downer Edi (Australia), Paul Y (Hong Kong) and McAlpine (UK), as well as other subcontractors (Kable Intelligence Ltd., 2016). In addition to expanding Hong Kong's territory through the creation of new land, HKIA has also helped strengthen Hong Kong's status as one of the world's leading countries. the largest transportation hubs and a major trade gateway (Bechtel, 2016). With over 65,000 employees, HKIA has certainly made a positive impact on the local economy. Furthermore, it has reduced congestion and provided residents with a fast and efficient service where they can easily reach the airport in less than half an hour and fly to nearly 200 destinations around the world (Airport Authority Hong Kong, 2016a; Bechtel, 2016). Specifically, Foster + Partners (2016a) reported that traveling between the city and HKIA by train takes approximately 20 minutes. As end users of the project, passengers can currently benefit from efficient services and world-class facilities that are regularly improved and improved. base to meet the growing demand. AA recently reported that operations to build a new cargo terminal began in 2013 and that the airport's capacity will be increased by investing in a three-runway system which should allow HKIA to handle more traffic (Authority,.