Hong Kong CE insists super bridge is safe

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (CY Leung) announced yesterday that he promised to look into communication issues within the government following reports on Monday that his Secretary for Transport and Housing, Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, claimed he not been informed for nearly a year about possible irregularities related to the concrete used in the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB), South China Morning Post reported yesterday.
CY Leung has, however, declined to commit to an appeal from engineers and lawmakers who requested more detailed non-destructive tests be conducted, even if that entailed delaying the opening of the bridge.
Accusations about the falsification of concrete test results by employees of Jacobs China, a lab service contractor, which could compromise the structural safety of the bridge, emerged in late May.
Earlier this week, it was reported that highway officials, speaking with legislators from the neighbouring SAR, pointed out that 210 samples could be fake, with 203 locations on the bridge confirmed.
During a Legislative Council transport panel meeting on June 5, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Transport and Housing revealed that it was not until last month that he was finally informed about the problems related to the alleged fake concrete employed in the construction of the super bridge, after been kept ‘in the dark’ for nearly a year.
Claims from Hong Kong officials that they had since conducted non-destructive concrete strength tests both on the samples and on-site, were supported by the departing Hong Kong CE, who was quoted as saying that “it is important that we have done a lot of tests on the site, and all results show that there is no problem with the concrete.”