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<strong>Sep</strong>tember <strong>2005</strong><br />

PARSONS BRINCKERHOFF<br />

C o r p o r a t e H e a d q u a r t e r s<br />

P a r s o n s B r i n c k e r h o f f • O n e P e n n P l a z a • N e w Y o r k , N Y 1 0 1 1 9<br />

1 - 2 1 2 - 4 6 5 - 5 0 0 0<br />

w w w . p b w o r l d . c o m<br />

F o r a l i s t i n g o f o u r o v e r 1 5 0 o f f i c e s , p l e a s e v i s i t o u r W e b s i t e a t w w w . p b w o r l d . c o m<br />

o r c o n t a c t u s a t t h e f o l l o w i n g l o c a t i o n s :<br />

north and South America new York 1-212-465-5000<br />

europe/Africa/Middle East London 44-(0)20-7798-2400<br />

asia hong Kong 852-2-579-8899<br />

australia sydney 61-2-9272-5100<br />

20M09/05P11<br />

ON THE<br />

FAST TRACK<br />

in China


Letter<br />

from the<br />

Chairman<br />

Inside<br />

© <strong>2005</strong> DAVID SAILORS<br />

F<br />

ew nations command the world’s attention the way China does today. With its booming economy,<br />

its determination to modernize and its commitment to technological advancement, China is one<br />

of the most influential nations of the early 21st century, and a critical market for PB. The Chinese<br />

infrastructure market is huge, complex and challenging, and PB has already enjoyed considerable<br />

success there, with future opportunities even more promising. This issue of NOTES reports on PB’s<br />

recent work in Greater China and reviews some of PB’s past accomplishments there.<br />

PB has roots in China that date to 1898, when our founder, William Barclay <strong>Parsons</strong>, charted the<br />

course of a railway from Hankow (Wuhan) to Canton (Guangzhou). In 1972, PB won an assignment<br />

to redesign an immersed tube tunnel under Victoria Harbour and, in 1978, PB established a<br />

permanent office in Hong Kong. PB established its first office in mainland China in Shanghai in<br />

1994 and now has a staff of more than 1,000 across offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou,<br />

Shenzhen, Tianjin, Hong Kong, Macau and Taipei.<br />

During 30 years of continuous work in the Asia-Pacific region, PB has developed a reputation as a<br />

leading provider of mechanical-electrical-plumbing (MEP) services for buildings and transit systems,<br />

and we have worked on scores of prominent buildings, including Oriental Plaza in Beijing, the World<br />

Financial Building in Shanghai and the Shenzhen World Trade Centre. Current buildings projects include<br />

the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Guangzhou; The Arch residential complex in Hong Kong; and the Venetian<br />

Macau, a world-class hotel and exhibition complex. Increasingly, we are designing systems for “smart”<br />

buildings and incorporating technology that enables buildings to be superefficient and sustainable.<br />

Drawing on our transportation engineering and project management expertise, PB is making<br />

contributions to several of the most exciting rail infrastructure projects in Greater China today, including<br />

the Shanghai Metro, the Shenzhen Metro, the Taiwan High Speed Rail and a high-speed rail line from<br />

Zhengzhou to Xi’an, while continuing work for such longtime clients as Hong Kong’s Mass Transit<br />

Railway Corporation and the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation.<br />

Perhaps no event demonstrates China’s ascendancy more than the selection of Beijing to host the 2008<br />

Summer Olympic Games. PB helped the city prepare for the event with a transportation plan for the<br />

Olympic Green and MEP services for the Beijing Olympic Green Indoor Sport/Media and Convention<br />

Center, from which television coverage of the Games will be broadcast worldwide.<br />

When people throughout the world focus on China during the 2008 Olympics, they will see a<br />

confident, modern nation with breathtaking city skylines, spectacular high-rise buildings, and<br />

transportation systems that rival those of any city anywhere. PB is proud to have made contributions<br />

to much of that infrastructure, and we hope to continue to serve our Chinese clients on projects<br />

that will enable the world’s most populous nation to meet the demands of its stunning growth with<br />

infrastructure that is thoughtfully planned and designed, efficient and sustainable.<br />

Page 8<br />

Page 10<br />

2<br />

PB in China Today—<br />

And Tomorrow<br />

China continues growing, and<br />

PB assists in engineering its<br />

infrastructure.<br />

6<br />

Shanghai and Shenzhen:<br />

A Tale of Two Cities<br />

One old, one new—each is a<br />

metropolis expanding its mass<br />

transit system.<br />

8<br />

Macau—Las Vegas of<br />

The Far East<br />

From casinos to family theme<br />

parks, there will be something for<br />

everyone.<br />

10<br />

Onward and Upward<br />

In Hong Kong<br />

Growth is the key word in<br />

Kowloon and the New Territories.<br />

12<br />

PB in Taiwan:<br />

Putting Premier<br />

Projects on the Map<br />

High-speed rail is a symbol for<br />

the island’s future.<br />

15<br />

China’s Buildings<br />

Market Reaches<br />

New Heights<br />

PB contributes diverse skills to<br />

buildings that are changing city<br />

skylines in China.<br />

18<br />

PB’s Founder Charts a<br />

Railroad in China<br />

In his book, An American<br />

Engineer in China, William Barclay<br />

<strong>Parsons</strong> shared his observations<br />

and admiration of Chinese culture<br />

and civilization at the turn of the<br />

century.<br />

20<br />

Notes on Projects<br />

24<br />

Notes on the Firm<br />

on the cover<br />

The Shenzhen Metro Line No. 1, for which<br />

PB was responsible for undertaking system<br />

gap analysis, safety assessment, planning and<br />

management of system commissioning and<br />

operational drills with the provision of on-site<br />

technical support.<br />

© <strong>2005</strong> David Sailors<br />

NOTES is published three times a year by<br />

<strong>Parsons</strong> <strong>Brinckerhoff</strong> Inc. for the employees,<br />

affiliates and friends of the <strong>Parsons</strong> <strong>Brinckerhoff</strong><br />

group of companies. Please contact the<br />

Executive Editor in the New York office for<br />

permission to reprint articles.<br />

© <strong>2005</strong> <strong>Parsons</strong> <strong>Brinckerhoff</strong> Inc.<br />

All rights reserved.<br />

Page 15 Page 18<br />

Editorial Board<br />

Michael I. Schneider<br />

Keith J. Hawksworth<br />

Timothy J. Matthews<br />

Christopher E. Reseigh<br />

William S. Roman<br />

Richard A. Schrader<br />

William D. Smith<br />

Executive Editor<br />

Tom Malcolm<br />

Editor<br />

Muriel Adams<br />

Contributors<br />

Muriel Adams<br />

David Elvin<br />

Charlotte Forbes<br />

Julie Johnson<br />

Tom Malcolm<br />

Susan Walsh<br />

Graphics Services Manager<br />

Richard Mangini<br />

Graphic Design<br />

Jamie Dugan<br />

Gary Hessberger<br />

Director of Corporate<br />

Communications<br />

Judy Cooper<br />

<strong>Parsons</strong> <strong>Brinckerhoff</strong> Inc.<br />

One Penn Plaza<br />

New York, NY 10119<br />

1-212-465-5000<br />

www.pbworld.com<br />

pbinfo@pbworld.com<br />

<strong>Parsons</strong> <strong>Brinckerhoff</strong> (PB), founded<br />

in 1885, is recognized as a leader in<br />

consulting, planning, engineering, program<br />

management, construction management,<br />

and operations and maintenance for all<br />

types of infrastructure. PB is employeeowned<br />

with approximately 9,000 people in<br />

more than 150 offices on six continents.<br />

Thomas J. O’Neill<br />

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer<br />

<strong>Parsons</strong> <strong>Brinckerhoff</strong> Inc.<br />

Page 12<br />

Printed on recycled paper<br />

Notes • 1


PB in China Today—<br />

and Tomorrow<br />

F<br />

or centuries in China the crane has symbolized<br />

longevity, taking flight into the endless sky. In this<br />

century in China, another kind of crane is ubiquitous.<br />

Throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and<br />

Taiwan, cityscapes are dotted with steel cranes building<br />

infrastructure in support of economic development<br />

and China’s stature in the 21st century.<br />

As part of this mega boom, high-speed rail is fast<br />

becoming reality, transit systems are spreading tentacles<br />

across expanding metropolises, buildings wired for the<br />

most sophisticated technologies push upwards to new<br />

heights, recreational and cultural facilities are spun in<br />

glittering webs ... and <strong>Parsons</strong> <strong>Brinckerhoff</strong> is there,<br />

providing government and private enterprise clients<br />

with services needed to achieve their goals.<br />

PB’s History in Greater China<br />

PB’s story in China unfolded in<br />

1898, as William Barclay <strong>Parsons</strong><br />

charted a railway between<br />

Hankow (Wuhan) and Canton<br />

(Guangzhou). It resumed in<br />

the 1970s, with the opening<br />

of a Hong Kong office for<br />

such projects as the first<br />

immersed tube tunnel<br />

under Victoria Harbour in<br />

Hong Kong, mechanical<br />

and electrical services<br />

for Hong Kong’s public transit<br />

agencies—Mass Transit Railway<br />

Corporation and Kowloon-Canton<br />

Railway Corporation—plus general<br />

engineering consulting services<br />

for the Taipei Mass Transit System<br />

through the 1980s.<br />

Among the early endeavors<br />

in mainland China: A master plan<br />

for the Port of Ningbo; mechanical-electrical-plumbing<br />

(MEP)<br />

design services for the China<br />

Hotel in Guangzhou—the first to<br />

be designed using international<br />

standards—and project management<br />

for the Yangpu Power Plant<br />

on Hainan Island.<br />

Then, in 1994, PB opened<br />

its first office in mainland China<br />

in Shanghai, which was<br />

followed<br />

by Beijing,<br />

Shenzhen,<br />

Guangzhou<br />

and Tianjin.<br />

Today mainland<br />

China<br />

is home to<br />

more than<br />

400 PB<br />

A new day begins at Tai Wai<br />

Station on the Kowloon-Canton<br />

Railway’s Ma On Shan Extension.<br />

employees, together with 400 in<br />

Hong Kong, 200 in Taiwan and<br />

10 in Macau, for a total of more<br />

than 1,000 in Greater China.<br />

In mainland China, projects<br />

have included mechanical and<br />

electrical design for world-class<br />

buildings such as Beijing’s<br />

Oriental Plaza, Shanghai’s World<br />

Financial Building and the<br />

Shenzhen World Trade Centre,<br />

as well as design and project<br />

management services on metro<br />

systems in Shenzhen, Beijing and<br />

Shanghai.<br />

Upwards of 150 people have<br />

joined PB’s mainland China<br />

offices since 2003, reports Keith<br />

Hawksworth, President and Chief<br />

Operating Officer of PB’s Asia-<br />

Pacific operation, which reflects<br />

the importance of the China<br />

market to PB. Hong Kong-based<br />

Patrick Lun is Manager of the<br />

ALL PHOTOS THIS SPREAD © <strong>2005</strong> DAVID SAILORS<br />

Keith Hawksworth, President<br />

and Chief Operating Officer of<br />

PB’s Asia-Pacific operation,<br />

finds that China’s 8 to 9 percent<br />

economic growth offers<br />

extensive opportunities for PB.<br />

Greater China Region. South,<br />

north and east China are<br />

managed, respectively, by Hong<br />

Kong-based Vincent Tse, Bejingbased<br />

Xi Fei and Shanghai-based<br />

Ter-Ming Kor, with Frank Chen<br />

as Manager for the Taiwan unit.<br />

Tom O’Neill proudly shows his<br />

Marco Polo Award for recognition<br />

of PB’s work in China.<br />

Xi Fei, Manager of the North<br />

China Region, is based in<br />

Beijing, which is gearing up<br />

for the 2008 Olympics.<br />

Marco Polo Award<br />

In April, in recognition of PB’s<br />

current—and historic—work in<br />

China, the Marco Polo Award,<br />

considered the highest honor<br />

given by the Chinese government<br />

to a foreign business leader,<br />

was presented to PB Chairman<br />

and Chief Executive Officer Tom<br />

O’Neill. (Past honorees have been<br />

U.S. President George H.W. Bush<br />

and leaders of top American firms<br />

like Ford Motor Company and<br />

Merrill Lynch.)<br />

Named for the 13th century<br />

Italian explorer who advanced<br />

East-West trade and understanding,<br />

the award is given annually<br />

by China’s State Administration<br />

of Foreign Experts Affairs, China<br />

Association for International<br />

Exchange of Personnel, and<br />

U.S.-China Foundation for<br />

International Exchanges.<br />

“Engineering is a science without<br />

boundaries, intellectually or<br />

geographically,” said O’Neill,<br />

accepting the honor in Beijing.<br />

He quoted <strong>Parsons</strong>: “Of all<br />

Ter-Ming Kor, Manager of the<br />

East China Region, is based<br />

in Shanghai, where projects<br />

include the city's metro and<br />

high-rise buildings.<br />

human activities, engineering is<br />

the one that most enters into our<br />

lives, that gives us our means of<br />

living, and permeates every fiber<br />

of the social fabric.”<br />

The projects PB is working<br />

on for various clients are certainly<br />

pervasive in the way they are<br />

transforming life in China—giving<br />

China high-tech office buildings<br />

and modern industrial plants,<br />

upscale residences and shopping<br />

malls, fast and safe transit, exciting<br />

entertainment venues, and<br />

regulated traffic management on<br />

grand public squares and superhighways.<br />

PB also is working for<br />

clients that are giving the country<br />

impressive rail projects using<br />

the newest technology—the<br />

Shenzhen Metro, the Shanghai<br />

Metro and the Zhengzhou to<br />

Xi’an high-speed rail.<br />

Opportunities in Rail Transport<br />

In mainland China, project<br />

design is usually the domain<br />

of government-run design<br />

institutes, but PB has obtained<br />

Xie Jing, Infrastructure Manager<br />

for North China, worked to<br />

secure a contract for project<br />

and construction management<br />

on the Zhengzhou to Xi'an<br />

high-speed rail project.<br />

a role in design of the Shenzhen<br />

Metro’s Line 3—led by Project<br />

Manager Louis Lee. On another<br />

project, the Chinese Ministry of<br />

Railways engaged PB to provide<br />

project and construction management<br />

and system assurance<br />

services for a 460-kilometer<br />

(285-mile) high-speed rail project<br />

as part of a joint venture consortium.<br />

“If we are to become a<br />

major player in China in infrastructure,<br />

we must have a role on<br />

a major high-profile project—and<br />

the high-speed rail is definitely in<br />

this category,” says Hawksworth.<br />

The line will run between<br />

China’s first two capitals—3,500-<br />

year-old Zhengzhou, from which<br />

much of Chinese culture sprung,<br />

now an industrial city; and Xi’an,<br />

known for its 8,000 life-size<br />

terra-cotta warriors. “This is the<br />

cradle of China’s civilization.<br />

The route goes through a very<br />

historic area,” says Hawksworth.<br />

Trains will travel at speeds<br />

up to 350 kilometers (217 miles)<br />

per hour. Not only will the new<br />

2 • Notes<br />

Notes • 3


ALL PHOTOS THIS SPREAD © <strong>2005</strong> DAVID SAILORS<br />

Dr. Yan Wang, working on projects<br />

for the 2008 Olympics, is not<br />

new to the games, having done<br />

planning in Atlanta in 1996.<br />

The Beijing Olympic Green<br />

Indoor Sport/Media and<br />

Convention Center, for which<br />

PB is doing mechanical and<br />

electrical consulting.<br />

high-speed line relieve overcrowding<br />

on existing rail, it will<br />

offer speedy travel to commuters<br />

and others who need modern<br />

and efficient transportation to<br />

partake fully in the flourishing<br />

Chinese economy. Construction,<br />

expected to begin this year,<br />

will take four years at a cost of<br />

$4 billion. PB’s Project Manager<br />

is Mike Gillam, who will lead<br />

an initial team of five PB professionals.<br />

Among those responsible<br />

for winning the contract was Xie<br />

Jing, Infrastructure Manager for<br />

North China.<br />

“Just as it did at the turn<br />

of the 20th century, PB is helping<br />

provide state-of-the-art rail<br />

transportation for China in the<br />

21st century,” says O’Neill. “The<br />

Zhengzhou to Xi’an high-speed<br />

rail is one of China’s largest<br />

transportation projects and<br />

employs high-speed technology<br />

that will certainly challenge<br />

our engineers and technical<br />

specialists.”<br />

PB is working on transportation planning, including bus rapid transit,<br />

for the 2008 Olympic Games.<br />

Olympian Efforts<br />

Beijing is proud to be the site<br />

of the 2008 Summer Olympic<br />

Games. PB is on several project<br />

teams mobilizing the host city.<br />

One is the Beijing Olympic<br />

Green Area Transportation Plan<br />

for during and after the Games<br />

for the Beijing General Municipal<br />

Engineering Design and Research<br />

Institute. PB executed the entire<br />

games-period transportation plan<br />

for the 1,215-hectare (3,000-<br />

acre) Olympic Green, led by PB<br />

Technical Advisor Dick Fleming,<br />

based in Sydney, site of the 2000<br />

Olympics. “PB,” says Fleming,<br />

“worked closely with local planners<br />

on a strategy that embraces<br />

travel and security needs of<br />

diverse user groups so transportation<br />

in Beijing 2008 will be a<br />

standout success.”<br />

Dr. Yan Wang, Manager of<br />

the Planning and ITS (Intelligent<br />

Transportation Systems)<br />

Department in PB’s Beijing office<br />

and who participated in planning<br />

the transportation in Atlanta<br />

for the 1996 Olympics, served<br />

as PB Project Manager for the<br />

Beijing project. She worked with<br />

Fleming, then led the charge for<br />

post-game planning for Olympic<br />

Green and its environs, which<br />

includes strategic planning for<br />

transit as well as parking. “We<br />

brought foreign Olympic success<br />

and lessons learned to Beijing,”<br />

says Wang, noting that “PB is<br />

the only U.S. company that has<br />

participated in 2008 transportation<br />

planning.” The firm is also<br />

mechanical and electrical consultant<br />

on the Beijing Olympic<br />

Green Indoor Sport/Media and<br />

Convention Center.<br />

Sustainable Development<br />

Last year, Beijing staff and clients<br />

attended PB’s sustainable development<br />

training for transit (led<br />

by Susanna Kerr-Adler and Ray<br />

Hornbuckle, both from the U.S.).<br />

Says Wang: “Sustainable planning<br />

is the hottest issue on the market.<br />

As energy, water and air quality<br />

issues continue raising concerns<br />

and more government regulations<br />

come into play, this market will<br />

become more attractive.”<br />

Wind power has taken off<br />

on Nan’ao Island, in southeast<br />

China, with its coastal winds—<br />

and several wind farms. For the<br />

subsidiary of the China Huaneng<br />

Group planning a 100-MW wind<br />

farm there, PB Power conducted<br />

a wind resource assessment. Led<br />

by Achim Hoehne, Wind Power<br />

Group Engineering Manager,<br />

PB monitored 30 locations,<br />

noting considerable wind speed<br />

variation. Conclusion: Turbines<br />

should not be evenly distributed<br />

but concentrated on the island’s<br />

southern section for optimum<br />

efficiency.<br />

China’s Mega Growth<br />

China is leading Asia’s economic<br />

growth and PB is creating its<br />

own role in China’s future.<br />

Dr. Patrick Lun notes, “Since<br />

1984, when PB provided engineering<br />

services for the five-star<br />

China Hotel in Guangzhou, we<br />

have held to our policy of sharing<br />

our knowledge with local<br />

engineers via technology transfer<br />

and localization of our staff.”<br />

According to Lun, local residents<br />

account for 80 percent of total<br />

staff for PB in China.<br />

Project management tools<br />

and techniques, notes Lun, along<br />

with safety and risk management<br />

practices, are introduced by PB<br />

on major infrastructure including<br />

the current key rail projects.<br />

“This is new to our China staff<br />

and clients alike,” says Lun. For<br />

example, says Cheng Zhong<br />

Hang, Chief Supervising Engineer,<br />

Shanghai Metro Yang Pu (M8)<br />

Line, “PB brings in advanced<br />

technical and management skills<br />

for the project, the training for<br />

our staff and great help during<br />

the construction—all very much<br />

appreciated.”<br />

And there are benefits to<br />

PB’s staff, as Lun points out: “We<br />

offer our staff the chance to work<br />

on world-class projects. China<br />

offers great opportunities for PB<br />

for many decades to come. We<br />

are well placed to meet these<br />

challenges. PB is committed to<br />

China.”<br />

China’s economic growth is<br />

eye-popping. As Hawksworth<br />

Dr. Patrick Lun, Deputy Chief<br />

Operating Officer of PB Asia-<br />

Pacific and Manager of PB’s<br />

Greater China Region, says<br />

China offers great opportunities<br />

for PB for decades to come.<br />

explains, “Growth of over 4<br />

percent in a developing market<br />

suggests there is a good market<br />

for foreign consultants. Economic<br />

growth of 8 to 9 percent—as<br />

in China—indicates very extensive<br />

opportunities,” he says. “In<br />

China, the people are proud of<br />

their own capability and want<br />

access to the best technology, to<br />

acquire expertise and experience<br />

of firms like PB. Technology<br />

transfer allows a local office to<br />

provide PB’s expertise to clients.”<br />

Hawksworth summarizes PB’s<br />

success in China. “We’ve made<br />

some inroads in the infrastructure<br />

sector in design and program or<br />

project management for metros<br />

in Shanghai and Shenzhen. We’ve<br />

provided MEP design services to<br />

more super high-rise buildings<br />

than any other international<br />

firm. And we’ve been modestly<br />

successful in program management<br />

for industrial facilities like<br />

the Xizi Otis Elevator Company<br />

factory in Hangzhou.”<br />

China Tomorrow<br />

A streamlined train speeding<br />

past a pedicab, a high-rise<br />

dwarfing ancient dwellings,<br />

high-tech systems controlling a<br />

melange of traffic from bicycles<br />

to buses to over-laden open<br />

trucks. China is accelerating<br />

and PB is contributing to that<br />

progress. •<br />

Cranes dotting the skyline<br />

indicate new buildings and<br />

the infrastructure that will<br />

be necessary to lift China<br />

to new heights.<br />

4 • Notes Notes • 5


Shanghai and Shenzhen:<br />

A Tale of Two Cities<br />

ALL PHOTOS THIS SPREAD © <strong>2005</strong> DAVID SAILORS<br />

S<br />

hanghai is a cosmopolitan city that has been a center<br />

of commerce for centuries. Today its gleaming high-rises,<br />

ultramodern stock exchange and futuristic architecture<br />

make it the very symbol of China’s ascendancy to<br />

economic powerhouse status. By contrast, just 30 years<br />

ago, Shenzhen was a small fishing village. Situated across<br />

the border from Hong Kong, however, its star rose<br />

quickly to a teeming city of 5 million, on an upward<br />

economic trajectory of its own, thanks mainly to its<br />

status as a Special Economic Zone, granted in 1980 by<br />

the Chinese Central Government. As different as the two<br />

cities may be, when it comes to moving people around<br />

town, Shanghai and Shenzhen share a dream: mass<br />

transit systems that are as efficient and modern as they<br />

come. PB is local in both cities, continuing to support<br />

the weaving of transit into the urban fabric.<br />

Shanghai’s Mega Metro<br />

Shanghai’s 17 million inhabitants<br />

need a lot of metro power.<br />

The Shanghai Metro’s first line<br />

opened in 1995 and, four years<br />

later, the first phase of a second<br />

line was in revenue service.<br />

Between 2001 and <strong>2005</strong> alone,<br />

more than 180 kilometers (112<br />

miles) of transit lines have<br />

either been designed, are under<br />

construction or were completed.<br />

This will increase to form a<br />

network of more than 810<br />

kilometers (503 miles) consisting<br />

of heavy, mass transit and light<br />

rail systems over the next 25 years.<br />

PB has had a “big picture”<br />

role and a specific project role.<br />

In the 1990s, Shanghai Metro<br />

Corporation rethought its plan<br />

for Metro Line 2 in order to<br />

bring it into the important, fastdeveloping<br />

Pudong financial<br />

district. “PB compared and<br />

Tunneling for a new Shanghai Metro line uses the Double-O-Tube<br />

tunnel boring machine, reducing excavation cost and easing work<br />

in the city’s narrow streets.<br />

assessed costs of the design<br />

options, using its proprietary<br />

Subway Environment Simulation<br />

computer program, to estimate<br />

air conditioning and energy<br />

consumption requirements of the<br />

environmental control and the<br />

traction power system,” reports<br />

Xiao-Bing Zhu, PB’s Manager<br />

for Project Development in<br />

Shanghai. “More recently PB<br />

has completed most of the city’s<br />

transit-oriented development<br />

[TOD] planning projects, plus<br />

architectural and MEP services<br />

for the Xu-Jia-Hui Interchange—<br />

one of the most important and<br />

complex interchange stations<br />

in Shanghai,” adds Zhu. On the<br />

Yang Pu Line, a 23-kilometer<br />

(14-mile), 21-station segment<br />

scheduled to begin operations in<br />

October 2006, new technology<br />

is advancing construction. The<br />

Shanghai Metro is the first in<br />

China (and only the second in<br />

the world, after Japan, where it<br />

originated) to use a new doubletube<br />

drilling technology known<br />

as the Double-O-Tube binocularshaped<br />

tunnel boring machine.<br />

It is smaller and more compact<br />

Shenzhen Metro Line No. 1 opened with fully automatic trains (control room, left; maintenance facility<br />

depot, right). Additional lines will further the city’s economic growth.<br />

than two single tubes, reducing<br />

the cost of excavation and<br />

facilitating work in the very<br />

narrow streets.<br />

PB’s technical expertise<br />

was sought for three sections<br />

of the Double-O-Tube tunnel,<br />

with a total length of 2.7<br />

kilometers (1.7 miles). “The<br />

large and binocular crosssection<br />

and the very shallow<br />

depth of the tunnel resulted in<br />

some unique issues. Our goal<br />

was to minimize disturbance<br />

to the soil, the surface and<br />

subsurface structures,” says<br />

PB’s Project Manager Jie-Tai<br />

Huang. Says Cheng Zhong Hang,<br />

Chief Supervising Engineer of<br />

Shanghai Metro Consultation<br />

and Supervision Science and<br />

Technology Co. Limited, “The<br />

involvement and assistance of<br />

PB have been very helpful for<br />

the successful completion of the<br />

tunnel excavation.”<br />

As of mid-<strong>2005</strong>, excavation<br />

was complete and tunnel<br />

finishing was in the works.<br />

Shenzhen Metro<br />

Off to a Running Start<br />

Recognizing the need for transit<br />

in this developing city, the<br />

government-sponsored Shenzhen<br />

Metro Co., Ltd. celebrated the<br />

opening of the Shenzhen Metro<br />

Lines No. 1 and No. 4—the first<br />

metro system in the city—on<br />

December 28, 2004. Eager<br />

crowds climbed aboard the<br />

Shenzhen Metro, which was<br />

the first in China to commence<br />

operations with full automatic<br />

train control.<br />

Part of the system runs<br />

15 kilometers (9.3 miles) east<br />

to west with 15 stations starting<br />

at the immigration building at<br />

Luohu next to the Kowloon-<br />

Canton Railway (KCR) station.<br />

Another segment extends<br />

4.5 kilometers (3 miles) south<br />

to north; this five-station portion<br />

of the line will ultimately connect<br />

to another KCR station to be built<br />

at Lok Ma Chau in Hong Kong.<br />

Led by Deputy Project Manager<br />

James Pang, PB was responsible<br />

for undertaking system gap<br />

analysis, safety assessment, planning<br />

and management of system<br />

commissioning and operational<br />

drills with the provision of<br />

on-site technical support.<br />

So vital is the Metro to<br />

Shenzhen that the Shenzhen<br />

Metro No. 3 Line Investment<br />

Company Ltd. had already<br />

begun work in mid-2004 on<br />

another line of 33 kilometers<br />

(20.5 miles) and 21 stations. In<br />

the firm’s first opportunity to<br />

work with Chinese engineering<br />

design institutes on a project<br />

from greenfield site to revenue<br />

operation, PB is providing<br />

program and construction<br />

management services for Line<br />

No. 3. Construction will begin<br />

in late <strong>2005</strong>; revenue service is<br />

slated for 2008.<br />

According to Project Manager<br />

Louis Lee, Line No. 3 is PB’s first<br />

major rail transit project in China<br />

and the first time the client has<br />

given the nod to an international<br />

consultant to assist in project<br />

management for the whole project<br />

cycle. “In so doing, the client<br />

will reap the benefit of international<br />

advanced project management<br />

techniques to help run the<br />

system smoothly,” says Lee.<br />

In October 2004, PB was<br />

named subconsultant on the<br />

23-kilometer (14-mile), 15-station<br />

extension of Metro Line No. 1.<br />

Project Manager Emil Cheung<br />

is leading PB’s work as design<br />

review consultant to a local<br />

Chinese design institute for the<br />

extension, which is slated for<br />

completion in 2008.<br />

The future of the metros in<br />

Shenzhen and Shanghai will add<br />

to the tale of these two cities.<br />

“Mass transit isn’t just about<br />

moving people from point to<br />

point,” says Lee. “Transit also<br />

has a real influence on the way<br />

a city grows and develops.” •<br />

Xiao-Bing Zhu Jie-Tai Huang<br />

James Pang Louis Lee Emil Cheung<br />

6 • Notes Notes • 7


Macau—Las Vegas of<br />

ALL PHOTOS THIS SPREAD (EXCEPT VENETIAN) © <strong>2005</strong> DAVID SAILORS<br />

M<br />

the Far East<br />

acau’s comfortable climate, walkable streets,<br />

Portuguese-influenced cuisine and casino gambling as<br />

well as family attractions are quickly making it a major<br />

leisure destination in Asia. Soon, visitors will have<br />

options like never before—from a luxury suite in an<br />

Italian-themed resort to an “Indiana Jones” experience.<br />

Bordered on the Chinese mainland and just 70<br />

kilometers (43 miles) from Hong Kong, this 27.3-squarekilometer<br />

(10.5-square-mile) peninsula with three islands<br />

is popular with day-trippers from Hong Kong and its<br />

surrounding cities and is a vacation destination in its<br />

own right. Originally a Portuguese colony, it became a<br />

Special Administrative Region of China in 1999.<br />

For more than 40 years Macau has permitted<br />

casinos to operate under a local monopoly, but in 2002<br />

the government, in an effort to bring in competition<br />

and increase variety for its visitors, began inviting<br />

international investors to build casinos there. Because<br />

it’s the only area in China where casinos are permitted,<br />

Macau is a particularly attractive option for investors and<br />

developers.<br />

Venetian Macau—<br />

Venice Meets Las Vegas<br />

One of those developers is the<br />

Sands Corporation, owner of<br />

the top-rated Venetian Resort<br />

Hotel Casino Complex, which is<br />

recreating this resort in Macau.<br />

Design activities on this fasttrack<br />

project began in early 2004.<br />

Construction began in March <strong>2005</strong>,<br />

and completion is scheduled for<br />

early 2007. “The Venetian Macau<br />

will provide an integrated venue<br />

for entertainment, leisure, vacation,<br />

convention and business activities—including<br />

replicas of Venice’s<br />

famous canals, navigated by<br />

gondoliers singing Italian classics,”<br />

says PB’s Matthew Ngan, Deputy<br />

Only in Macau: An American<br />

resort, based on Venice, with<br />

a casino—the Venetian Macau,<br />

which will be a replica of<br />

the top-rated Las Vegas<br />

complex shown here.<br />

Project Manager and Design<br />

Manager. “The complex will<br />

house a large casino; a huge retail<br />

mall; exhibition halls, conference<br />

rooms and a ballroom; a 15,000-<br />

seat indoor stadium; a 2,000-seat<br />

theater; and a 3,000-room hotel.”<br />

Total construction area is almost<br />

1 million square meters (more<br />

than 10 million square feet) and<br />

estimated construction cost is $1.8<br />

billion.<br />

PB’s responsibilities include<br />

the overall design, coordination<br />

and site supervision of all<br />

mechanical, electrical and plumbing<br />

(MEP) systems, including<br />

hydraulic systems for swimming<br />

pools and even a wave pool.<br />

Replicating an American<br />

resort in Macau presents unique<br />

challenges due to climate<br />

differences—dry heat in Las Vegas<br />

versus tropical weather and high<br />

humidity in Macau. Ngan adds,<br />

“There are differences between<br />

design codes in the U.S. and<br />

Macau as well as Hong Kong,<br />

where many of us usually work,<br />

so we work with the owner and<br />

local authorities to integrate the<br />

requirements,” he says.<br />

As part of the effort to integrate<br />

multinational requirements,<br />

Ngan often attends meetings in<br />

Las Vegas and Dallas to coordinate<br />

with the architect, interior<br />

designer, retail consultant, landscape<br />

consultant and kitchen<br />

consultant, as well as the owner.<br />

He says, “This provides us with<br />

the opportunity to work with and<br />

learn from other international<br />

consultants and the owner.”<br />

Fisherman’s Wharf—<br />

Fun for Everyone<br />

Macau Fisherman’s Wharf is a<br />

new family theme park of more<br />

than 100,000 square meters (1<br />

million square feet) in the Outer<br />

Harbor; it has an estimated construction<br />

cost of $243 million. The<br />

project is divided into three areas:<br />

Dynasty Wharf, a traditional<br />

Chinese area; East Meets West, an<br />

Indiana Jones-based theme park;<br />

and Legend Wharf, which will<br />

feature European ambience with<br />

a Tower of Pisa, a Portuguese<br />

restaurant and French<br />

Family fun: Ancient meets<br />

modern, East meets West—<br />

at Fisherman’s Wharf.<br />

inns. Legend Wharf is<br />

scheduled to open in<br />

<strong>Sep</strong>tember <strong>2005</strong>, the others<br />

in December.<br />

PB was responsible for all<br />

quantity surveying and construction<br />

cost consultancy works. “PB<br />

was asked by the client to carry<br />

out value engineering and advise<br />

on alternative materials and procurement<br />

methods to reduce the<br />

construction costs. As a result,<br />

the overall construction cost was<br />

reduced by 5 percent,” says PB<br />

Project Manager Kenneth Tsang.<br />

Macau Tower—<br />

A New Landmark<br />

The Macau Tower and Entertainment<br />

Centre is one of Macau’s<br />

newest landmarks. The development<br />

consists of the 330-meter<br />

(1,000-foot) tower with a revolving<br />

restaurant and viewing area<br />

and the seven-story Entertainment<br />

Centre.<br />

Working for operator Shun<br />

Tak Holdings, a major developer<br />

and hospitality corporation in<br />

Hong Kong, PB was responsible<br />

for the detailed mechanical and<br />

electrical design of the fitting out<br />

works in the basement levels,<br />

Adventure awaits: From fine dining,<br />

current movies to bungee jumping—<br />

it’s all at the Macau Tower.<br />

level 3 and level 4 of the<br />

Entertainment Centre, which<br />

houses a 1,850-square-meter<br />

(20,000-square-foot) exhibition<br />

hall, function and meeting<br />

rooms, restaurants and offices<br />

and a 1,600-square-meter (17,000-<br />

square-foot) banquet hall. “This<br />

is the largest banquet hall in<br />

Macau and the one in which<br />

the ceremony marking the fifth<br />

anniversary of the handing over<br />

of Macau to China took place in<br />

December 2004,” according to<br />

Project Manager Colin Chung.<br />

Keeping Traffic Moving<br />

In 2002, the Macau government,<br />

predicting that traffic demand<br />

would increase substantially,<br />

commissioned a comprehensive<br />

road network development study.<br />

“The primary objectives of<br />

the study included assessing<br />

traffic impacts from each major<br />

development, formulating and<br />

recommending improvement<br />

proposals,” says Annie Lai, PB<br />

Lead Traffic Planner. “PB planned<br />

a highway network including<br />

new links, bridges and tunnels,<br />

and some are now being<br />

designed.”<br />

So much the better to keep<br />

people moving from one entertainment<br />

venue to the next. •<br />

Moving along: Improvements<br />

to the highway network are<br />

under way to keep up with<br />

Macau's growth.<br />

Matthew Ngan Kenneth Tsang Colin Chung<br />

8 • Notes Notes • 9


ALL PHOTOS THIS SPREAD (Except Kenneth Li) © <strong>2005</strong> DAVID SAILORS<br />

Onward and Upward<br />

H<br />

in Hong Kong<br />

ong Kong holds special significance for <strong>Parsons</strong><br />

<strong>Brinckerhoff</strong>. It was in Hong Kong that PB’s entrée to the<br />

Asia-Pacific region came in 1972 with the redesign of<br />

the first immersed tube tunnel under Victoria Harbour—<br />

the first fixed link between Hong Kong Island and<br />

Kowloon—which is still in use today. In 1978, PB won<br />

a tunnel ventilation design contract for the Hong Kong<br />

Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system and established a<br />

permanent office, subsequently undertaking mechanical<br />

and electrical consulting services for prestigious projects<br />

from the New World Centre and Regent Hotel complex<br />

to the world-famous Ocean Park, which included the<br />

world’s highest escalator.<br />

Today PB is one of the largest full-service engineering<br />

consultants in the region. The Hong Kong office is under<br />

the leadership of Vincent Tse, Manager of the South<br />

China Region. Its 420 staff members constitute a major<br />

engineering force in Hong Kong as it continues to grow<br />

upward and outward, with taller and more exclusive<br />

buildings and transportation infrastructure expansions<br />

all the way to the outer reaches of the fast-growing<br />

New Territories and Outlaying Islands.<br />

New Standards in Luxury<br />

Developer Sun Hung Kai<br />

Properties Limited and the Mass<br />

Transit Railway Corporation have<br />

their finger firmly on the pulse<br />

of the Hong Kong real estate<br />

What’s missing makes this<br />

structure The Arch— the new<br />

benchmark for luxury residential<br />

property in Hong Kong.<br />

market. Their latest venture is<br />

The Arch, designed as part of<br />

the station development program<br />

in West Kowloon atop the MTR<br />

Kowloon Station.<br />

A breathtaking mixed-use<br />

complex, The Arch consists of<br />

four 65-story residential towers<br />

housing 1,054 apartments on a<br />

three-story commercial podium.<br />

Project Manager Kenneth Li led<br />

PB in providing mechanicalelectrical-plumbing<br />

(MEP) design<br />

and fire engineering studies for<br />

the developers, who are longterm<br />

PB clients. “The challenge<br />

The new KCRC line brings the<br />

outer reaches of the northeast<br />

New Territories within a<br />

35-minute train ride of<br />

downtown Hong Kong.<br />

was to handle the continuous<br />

design changes demanded by<br />

the developers, who had to<br />

keep pace with changing market<br />

expectations,” says Li. “And the<br />

MEP plant had to be designed<br />

with special care to eliminate any<br />

noise and vibration that could be<br />

felt in the residential units.” The<br />

luxury units and The Arch’s<br />

59th-floor swimming pool and<br />

spa facilities caused a frenzy of<br />

media attention with many apartments<br />

snapped up months before<br />

the scheduled 2006 opening. A<br />

Hong Kong record price of HK$<br />

168.1 million ($21.6 million)<br />

was paid for a seven-bedroom<br />

penthouse. “The Arch has now<br />

become the benchmark for<br />

luxury residential property in<br />

Hong Kong,” says Li.<br />

Transit Extensions<br />

Add Convenience<br />

The far-flung reaches of the<br />

northeast New Territories are now<br />

within a 35-minute train ride of<br />

downtown Hong Kong, thanks<br />

to the Kowloon-Canton Railway<br />

Corporation’s (KCRC) ambitious<br />

expansion plan. KCRC, which<br />

provides heavy rail, suburban<br />

and rapid transit service in<br />

Hong Kong, is in the process of<br />

expanding its network to better<br />

serve the community. Its latest<br />

extension: the 11-kilometer<br />

(7-mile) Ma On Shan rail line,<br />

which opened in December 2004,<br />

brings the once remote Ma On<br />

Shan area of the northeast New<br />

Territories within minutes of the<br />

transit hub at Tai Wai, with connecting<br />

service to Hong Kong.<br />

Two months earlier, in October<br />

2004, the extension of the KCRC<br />

East Rail main line to a new<br />

underground terminus at East<br />

Tsim Sha Tsui also was opened.<br />

PB’s involvement in these projects<br />

has been extensive and varied,<br />

and includes the expansion of the<br />

existing operational telecommunications,<br />

control and signaling systems<br />

for the new rail extensions.<br />

Led by Project Manager Peter<br />

Stratford, the control and communications<br />

system expansion<br />

involved the careful introduction<br />

of new servers and databases<br />

onto a live system, one of the<br />

world’s most highly integrated<br />

rail control systems. “Due to the<br />

heavy train service on KCRC,<br />

there were only three and a half<br />

hours each night when the<br />

system was available for upgrading<br />

and testing,” says Stratford.<br />

“The project team successfully<br />

met this challenge, with no<br />

service interruptions.”<br />

The signaling works included<br />

introduction of automatic train<br />

operation (ATO) on the East<br />

Rail main line and expansion of<br />

the East Rail signaling system to<br />

cover the new rail extension to<br />

East Tsim Sha Tsui. This work<br />

was overseen by Project Manager<br />

Graham Allen, who faced a<br />

similar challenge of modifying<br />

the live signaling system without<br />

interruption to train service. “The<br />

introduction of ATO enabled<br />

increased frequency,” says<br />

Allen. “That meant that KCRC<br />

could achieve its commitment to<br />

improve service quality on East<br />

Rail.”<br />

Under a separate contract, led<br />

by PB Project Manager Garrick<br />

Sze, the firm provided MEP<br />

design services, environmental<br />

control and safety and security<br />

submissions for two sections of<br />

the Ma On Shan extension—<br />

a total of eight stations. In<br />

addition, civil and structural<br />

design services were provided for<br />

the Shek Mun, City One and Sha<br />

Tin Wai stations.<br />

New Police Headquarters<br />

In May <strong>2005</strong>, New Territories<br />

South Hong Kong Police<br />

completed its Regional Police<br />

Headquarters and Operational<br />

Base, a 33,000-square-meter<br />

(355,200-square-foot) building<br />

The recently opened police<br />

headquarters in the New<br />

Territories uses systems that are<br />

“green,” flexible and intelligent.<br />

to house 850 members of the<br />

Hong Kong Police Force. In June,<br />

police officers began moving into<br />

the striking building that contains<br />

offices, dog kennels, shooting<br />

ranges, gas service station for<br />

department vehicles, report room,<br />

computer equipment rooms,<br />

changing and night duty rooms,<br />

fitness training center and officers’<br />

cafeteria. Hong Kong’s first<br />

police headquarters project to be<br />

awarded to private sector design<br />

consultants, rather than govern-<br />

ment design personnel, reached<br />

substantial completion in an<br />

ambitious 810 days from the<br />

outset of design. PB was responsible<br />

for building services design,<br />

mechanical and electrical systems<br />

design, project controls and site<br />

supervision.<br />

Supporting the New Territories<br />

South Hong Kong Police requirements,<br />

PB designed systems that<br />

are “green,” flexible, intelligent<br />

and maintainable, says Project<br />

Manager Eddie Leung. Energysaving<br />

air conditioning equipment,<br />

mechanical ventilation systems<br />

outfitted with special filters to<br />

remove odors from the vehicle<br />

service station and dog kennels,<br />

and a computational fluid dynamics<br />

analysis conducted to simulate<br />

effectiveness in removing pollutants<br />

were among the firm’s<br />

contributions. “PB also worked<br />

with the client to make sure that<br />

the security, surveillance and<br />

access control systems could be<br />

adjusted to the diverse requirements<br />

of each building section,”<br />

says Leung.<br />

Having celebrated over three<br />

decades in Hong Kong, PB’s<br />

maxim for the future clearly<br />

remains: onward and upward. •<br />

Vincent Tse Kenneth Li<br />

Peter Stratford Graham Allen Garrick Sze<br />

Eddie Leung<br />

10 • Notes Notes • 11


PB in Taiwan: Putting<br />

Premier Projects<br />

on the Map<br />

ALL PHOTOS THIS SPREAD (EXCEPT YAUCHAO YARD) © <strong>2005</strong> DAVID SAILORS<br />

T<br />

ea farms and teeming cities … ancient temples and<br />

corporate culture … mountain railways and modern highspeed<br />

trains. They’re all part of the rich pastiche of life<br />

in Taiwan. A leaf-shaped island 160 kilometers (99 miles)<br />

off the coast of mainland China, Taiwan is embarking on<br />

a massive program to bring modern infrastructure to its<br />

21 million residents who are concentrated in a string of<br />

cities at the foot of the magnificent mountain spine that<br />

dominates the island’s eastern half.<br />

Since 1985, <strong>Parsons</strong> <strong>Brinckerhoff</strong> has been involved<br />

in Taiwan, first with a transportation planning assignment<br />

in Taipei and, shortly thereafter, leading American Transit<br />

Consultants, the general engineering consortium for the<br />

Taipei Mass Transit System, a 158-kilometer (98-mile) rail<br />

network, the first phase of which opened in 1996.<br />

Over the years, PB’s Taiwan operation has broadened<br />

its services and client base, building a particularly strong<br />

base in telecommunications, where it has assisted such<br />

leaders as Nokia and Asia Global Crossing in extending<br />

their networks throughout the territory.<br />

Today, under the direction of Manager Frank Chen,<br />

PB has 200 employees in three offices in Taiwan and is<br />

helping put some of Taiwan’s premier projects on the<br />

map through services in transportation; telecommunications;<br />

commercial, industrial and other public facilities;<br />

and project and construction management for business<br />

and industry. “Taiwan is on a steady growth curve,” says<br />

Chen. “PB’s four market sectors were strategically selected<br />

to help propel the territory<br />

toward its growth and<br />

development goals.”<br />

Taichung Station (left), awaiting passengers, and Yauchao Yard on the<br />

Taiwan High Speed Rail, now in the testing and commissioning phase.<br />

Taiwan Goes High Speed<br />

Perhaps Taiwan’s most notable<br />

project is the Taiwan High Speed<br />

Rail (HSR). Currently undergoing<br />

testing and commissioning in<br />

preparation for passenger service,<br />

the project was envisioned by<br />

the Taiwan High Speed Rail<br />

Corporation (THSRC) as a<br />

way to literally transform the<br />

way the public travels and to<br />

accommodate growing traffic<br />

between the capital Taipei in the<br />

north, and Kaohsiung, a key<br />

port in the south. The northsouth<br />

trip will take less than 90<br />

minutes by high-speed train—<br />

compared to the current four-to<br />

five-hour drive.<br />

Projected to carry 76.6<br />

million passengers in its first<br />

year of operation, the Taiwan<br />

HSR system is decidedly firstclass<br />

transportation, planned<br />

and executed with a host of<br />

impressive accomplishments.<br />

“The HSR is a multiyear $16<br />

billion megaproject,” notes Chen.<br />

“The fact that it is coming in<br />

under budget and on schedule<br />

is outstanding.” The THSRC<br />

has further ensured that safety<br />

and sustainability are top<br />

priorities. Monitoring devices for<br />

earthquakes, rain, wind and rock<br />

falls will be standard operating<br />

equipment along the entire<br />

route. Among the plethora of<br />

environmentally sound features is<br />

a natural screen of trees between<br />

the rail line and communities<br />

and acoustical barriers for noise<br />

reduction on the aerial structures.<br />

PB’s work with THSRC<br />

dates from 1990 when the firm<br />

participated in the preliminary<br />

alignment study. In 1997, PB<br />

provided assistance to THSRC<br />

in making its proposal to build<br />

the six-station, 345-kilometer<br />

(214-mile) high-speed line and<br />

since then has provided a range<br />

of management and support<br />

services. On other contracts,<br />

PB has provided THSRC with<br />

numerous design services for<br />

bridges, stations, workshops,<br />

depots and maintenance bases.<br />

At the project’s peak activity in<br />

2002 and 2003, more than 250<br />

PB employees from Taiwan<br />

as well as the United States,<br />

Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong<br />

and Thailand worked on various<br />

project contracts.<br />

The HSR is the backbone<br />

of Taiwan’s infrastructure with<br />

far-reaching implications. On<br />

the development front, THSRC<br />

owns 50-year concession rights<br />

for areas around the stations and<br />

will encourage commercial and<br />

transit-oriented development<br />

around passenger stations and<br />

surrounding areas according<br />

to characteristics of local<br />

communities. Light rail systems<br />

Current public transit to<br />

Chiang Kai-Shek International<br />

Airport means buses and taxis.<br />

In the coming years, a new<br />

option will be a rail link from<br />

downtown Taipei.<br />

are planned for several of the<br />

cities that will connect to the<br />

HSR stations. “In addition to<br />

efficient transportation, THSRC is<br />

committed to promoting balanced<br />

regional growth through station<br />

area development,” says Chen.<br />

Train to the Plane in Taipei<br />

Taiwan is also insistent on<br />

smart intracity transportation<br />

connections, and the government<br />

is sponsoring a project to ensure<br />

that Taipei will soon join the<br />

roster of cities with a passengerconvenient<br />

rail link from<br />

downtown to the airport. Chiang<br />

Kai-Shek International Airport<br />

has grown dramatically since<br />

it opened in 1979—there has<br />

been a nearly six-fold increase in<br />

passenger volume to 20 million<br />

travelers in 2004. Taiwan’s<br />

Ministry of Transportation and<br />

Communications-Bureau of<br />

High Speed Rail is building a<br />

52-kilometer (32-mile) rail link<br />

with two depots and 21 stations<br />

(six underground and 15<br />

elevated) that will dramatically<br />

decrease travel time to and<br />

from the airport and to major<br />

transportation hubs, including<br />

Taipei Main Station and the<br />

TaoYuan HSR Station.<br />

As subconsultant to Taipeibased<br />

Sinotech Engineering<br />

Consultants, Ltd., PB is providing<br />

core system general consulting<br />

services and tender preparation<br />

and review for the $3.1 billion<br />

new rail link. According to<br />

Project Manager Nelson Wu, the<br />

15-person local and international<br />

PB team began a two-year<br />

program in November 2004<br />

with two additional two-year<br />

programs to be subsequently<br />

negotiated. “The rail link has<br />

to be operational within 64<br />

months,” says Wu. “Sinotech<br />

has put together a team of<br />

international experts to make<br />

sure that happens.”<br />

Completing Pfizer’s<br />

Taiwan Headquarters<br />

Taiwan’s sophisticated<br />

telecommunications and<br />

transportation infrastructure has<br />

made it appealing to foreign<br />

investors. Having already<br />

selected Taiwan as the site of its<br />

Asian headquarters, Pfizer, the<br />

world’s largest pharmaceutical<br />

manufacturer, recently renewed<br />

its commitment to Taiwan with<br />

the opening of the company’s<br />

new Taiwan headquarters in May<br />

<strong>2005</strong> in Tamsui, near Taipei. The<br />

Frank Chen<br />

Nelson Wu<br />

12 • Notes Notes • 13


preliminary and detailed design<br />

for MEP systems; constructionphase<br />

services; and systems<br />

testing and commissioning.<br />

Construction was completed in<br />

August <strong>2005</strong>.<br />

Trusted with a<br />

National Treasure<br />

PB’s record of performance<br />

on modern buildings led to its<br />

involvement in rebuilding a part<br />

of China’s imperial past. For<br />

500 years, 24 Ming and Qing<br />

emperors ruled China from the<br />

Imperial Palace in the Forbidden<br />

City, a 9,000 plus-room complex<br />

in the heart of Beijing. Though<br />

secured by a moat and high<br />

walls during its days of imperial<br />

use, the Forbidden City, now<br />

known as the Palace Museum,<br />

has been open to the public<br />

since 1924.<br />

Portions of the Forbidden<br />

City, however, were in need of<br />

restoration. In 2000, the China<br />

K. Wah Centre is a new office<br />

building in one of Shanghai’s<br />

upscale shopping districts.<br />

Heritage Fund, a Hong Kongbased<br />

nonprofit organization,<br />

began reconstructing the Garden<br />

of the Palace of Established<br />

Happiness. The Garden—<br />

comprised of nine buildings<br />

linked by covered pavilions and<br />

pebbled walkways—was built<br />

in 1740 and destroyed by fire in<br />

1923. PB was invited to provide<br />

MEP services when the China<br />

Heritage Fund and the Palace<br />

Museum decided to outfit the<br />

nine authentic Qing dynasty<br />

structures for contemporary use.<br />

PB Project Manager Shiu-Wo<br />

Lam says, “It was challenging<br />

to design the systems to fit<br />

inconspicuously within the<br />

traditional wooden structures—<br />

especially because the systems<br />

were added after the pavilions<br />

were constructed. The team<br />

ALL PHOTOS THIS SPREAD (EXCEPT CHARGO LEUNG) © <strong>2005</strong> DAVID SAILORS<br />

They make escalators, too, at a new facility of the Xizi Otis Elevator<br />

Company in Hangzhou. PB provided design/build services.<br />

honored both history and current<br />

building codes with efforts such<br />

as modifying historic light fixtures<br />

to accept modern fittings.” The<br />

project is on track for completion<br />

this October. Lam notes, “It is<br />

an honor to have been trusted<br />

to help rebuild one of China’s<br />

national treasures.”<br />

Complete Facilities Services<br />

PB is expanding its facilities<br />

services in China to encompass<br />

all aspects of design and construction.<br />

Among the projects is<br />

development of an escalator and<br />

elevator manufacturing facility in<br />

Hangzhou for Xizi Otis Elevator<br />

Company. “PB provided master<br />

planning and conceptual design<br />

services for the 43,240-squaremeter<br />

(465,430-square-foot)<br />

complex beginning in January<br />

2003,” says Jerry Lieu, Manager<br />

responsible for Shanghai’s<br />

Project/Construction Management<br />

Group. “The building had to<br />

adhere to both international<br />

building codes and Otis’s<br />

corporate standards.”<br />

Under a separate contract, PB<br />

provided design-build services for<br />

the escalator facility—the largest<br />

such factory in the world. The<br />

PB’s roles ranged from master planning to construction management<br />

services for the Delphi China Technical Centre in Shanghai, where<br />

automotive components are developed.<br />

schedule became tight because<br />

permitting procedures delayed<br />

the construction start more than<br />

four months. “Through hard<br />

work, overtime, and careful planning,<br />

PB managed to cut down<br />

the schedule extension to only<br />

two months,” Lieu says. Design<br />

began in April 2004 and construction<br />

was completed in January<br />

<strong>2005</strong>. Richard Chen, Factory<br />

Relocation Director for Xizi Otis,<br />

notes, “PB provided a cost-effective<br />

solution and value-added<br />

construction services that exceeded<br />

our expectations, and the<br />

team demonstrated an outstanding<br />

ability to meet challenges.”<br />

In 2004, PB was awarded a<br />

contract for conceptual design<br />

and design management of the<br />

elevator manufacturing facility, to<br />

be completed in 2006.<br />

In Shanghai, PB has a<br />

comprehensive role on the<br />

Delphi China Technical Centre,<br />

a complex designed to accommodate<br />

several operating units of<br />

U.S.-headquartered Delphi, the<br />

world’s largest automotive components<br />

supplier. Project Manager<br />

James Tang explains, “Delphi’s<br />

goal is to create a world-class<br />

technology development center<br />

that enables teams to work with<br />

maximum efficiency.” Beginning<br />

in 2004, PB provided master<br />

planning and conceptual design<br />

in support of that objective for<br />

the 87,170-square-meter (938,290-<br />

square-foot) site. To facilitate<br />

completion of the complex in<br />

three phases and enhance future<br />

flexibility, each phase is a standalone<br />

structure. The buildings<br />

surround a courtyard garden<br />

and are linked by bridges.<br />

For Phase 1—which was<br />

occupied by Delphi employees<br />

in July <strong>2005</strong>—PB provided<br />

engineering design, procurement<br />

support and construction<br />

management services.<br />

Ongoing Opportunity<br />

“PB is breaking into the program<br />

management market in China,<br />

which complements our design<br />

expertise,” reports Chargo Leung,<br />

PB’s Operations Manager for<br />

Shanghai and Project Director for<br />

the Nanjing International Centre.<br />

Currently under construction in<br />

Nanjing City’s central business<br />

district, PB provided program<br />

management for the Centre as<br />

well as MEP services for the first<br />

phase of the project, scheduled<br />

for completion in mid-2007.<br />

Nanjing International Centre, in<br />

the city’s central business district,<br />

is a multiuse megastructure for<br />

which PB provided program<br />

management services.<br />

PB Project Manager Alan Lau<br />

explains, “Phase 1 of the 370,000-<br />

square-meter [4 million-squarefoot]<br />

complex includes two towers<br />

providing luxury apartments<br />

and hotel and office space, along<br />

with other structures housing a<br />

shopping mall, recreation center,<br />

and conference and exhibition<br />

center.” Phase 2 includes a<br />

60-story five-star hotel and an<br />

“intelligent” office building.<br />

“All sectors of the buildings<br />

market—institutional, commercial,<br />

industrial and residential—show<br />

strong growth,” says Keith<br />

Hawksworth, President and Chief<br />

Operating Officer, PB Asia-Pacific.<br />

“In China, PB has the opportunity<br />

to participate in the development<br />

of some of the world’s most<br />

prestigious and fascinating<br />

buildings.” •<br />

Larry Chan<br />

Shiu-Wo Lam Jerry Lieu James Tang<br />

Chargo Leung<br />

Alan Lau<br />

16 • Notes<br />

Notes • 17


1898: PB's Founder<br />

Charts a Railroad<br />

in China<br />

All photos from An American Engineer in China, by<br />

William Barclay <strong>Parsons</strong>, McClure, Phillips & Co., 1900.<br />

P<br />

arsons <strong>Brinckerhoff</strong>’s history in China dates to 1898,<br />

when the founder of the firm, William Barclay <strong>Parsons</strong>,<br />

surveyed the route of a railroad from Hankow (Wuhan)<br />

to Canton (Guangzhou) on behalf of an American syndicate<br />

granted a concession by the Chinese government.<br />

A prolific writer, <strong>Parsons</strong> wrote a book, An American<br />

Engineer in China, published in 1900, in which he gives<br />

his impressions of Chinese culture and civilization at the<br />

turn of the century.<br />

An arch bridge near Beijing<br />

admired by <strong>Parsons</strong>.<br />

Travels in Hunan<br />

<strong>Parsons</strong> entered China at a time<br />

when foreign influence was<br />

deeply resented—the Boxer<br />

Rebellion broke out just two<br />

years later, and Chinese officials<br />

cautioned him about traveling<br />

in Hunan, the so-called<br />

“closed province,” where most<br />

of the 1,448-kilometer (900-<br />

mile) route lay. <strong>Parsons</strong> reports<br />

that he was treated kindly and<br />

with respect by virtually all the<br />

Chinese with whom he came<br />

in contact, although he and his<br />

party were most definitely<br />

William Barclay <strong>Parsons</strong> (fourth from left) and his American engineers<br />

in the field.<br />

outsiders. “For five hundred<br />

miles I was the first foreigner<br />

ever seen,” he wrote. Despite his<br />

apprehension about traveling in<br />

Hunan, as he left the province<br />

<strong>Parsons</strong> reflected that he had been<br />

treated with “kindness, courtesy,<br />

and attention by both officials<br />

and people.” He bade farewell to<br />

Hunan sadly, and with particular<br />

affection for what he called his<br />

“two faithful friends” who had<br />

served as his bodyguards.<br />

Railroads<br />

Interestingly, <strong>Parsons</strong> writes little<br />

about the enterprise for which<br />

he worked or the surveying itself,<br />

preferring instead to comment on<br />

the customs of the country and<br />

people. But in a brief discussion<br />

of his work he writes: “In addition<br />

to determining the general location<br />

of the railway, we established<br />

the longitude and latitude of the<br />

various cities, discovering, as was<br />

expected, differences in their<br />

locations as usually plotted … we<br />

established the lines of drainage,<br />

both north and south of the<br />

Nan-ling Mountains, correcting<br />

many errors; but above all, we<br />

discovered the true pass across<br />

the range connecting the headwaters<br />

of the Yu-tan with those<br />

of the Wu-shui.”<br />

<strong>Parsons</strong> devotes an entire<br />

chapter to railroads generally,<br />

and in his view the development<br />

of rail lines would be critical to<br />

China’s development. According<br />

to <strong>Parsons</strong>, in 1900 there were<br />

1,310 kilometers (814 miles) of<br />

constructed railway, 1,023 kilometers<br />

(636 miles) under construction,<br />

and 9,141 kilometers<br />

(5,680 miles) under concession,<br />

including the route that <strong>Parsons</strong><br />

was surveying. Noting the poor<br />

condition of roads in China,<br />

<strong>Parsons</strong> predicted that railways<br />

would be developed first,<br />

followed by modern highways<br />

and finally by improvements in<br />

the navigability of rivers, at that<br />

time the principal means of<br />

transportation in China.<br />

Engineering and Construction<br />

As an engineer, <strong>Parsons</strong> was<br />

interested in the design and<br />

construction of structures in<br />

China, and he expressed admiration<br />

for Chinese pagodas, walls<br />

<strong>Parsons</strong> (at right) with a Chinese Hsien magistrate (under the umbrella).<br />

(not only the Great Wall but others<br />

surrounding cities) and bridges.<br />

He was especially impressed<br />

by the Chinese use of the arch<br />

in bridge construction, which he<br />

asserts preceded the use of the<br />

arch by the Romans. He singles<br />

out two arch bridges and writes:<br />

“Either of these beautiful structures<br />

would have done credit to<br />

any architectural engineer brought<br />

up in the most fastidious school<br />

of Europe. They both are of<br />

essentially Chinese origin, the former<br />

of some antiquity. Probably<br />

neither of them was ever seen by<br />

foreigners before my trip.”<br />

ments in the West, but also argues<br />

that Western influence would help<br />

China progress to a leading nation<br />

in the 20th century. He notes that<br />

for the great majority of Chinese<br />

at that time, life was a daily<br />

struggle. “Not that there is<br />

suffering or want, for everybody<br />

seems to have a home and<br />

enough to wear and eat, but<br />

it is life reduced to its simplest<br />

form,” he writes.<br />

The Development of China<br />

In <strong>Parsons</strong>’s view, improved<br />

transportation, reform of the<br />

imperial system of government<br />

(China was then under the reign<br />

Chinese Culture and Civilization<br />

Throughout the book, <strong>Parsons</strong>’s<br />

principal subject is Chinese culture<br />

and civilization. He demonstrates<br />

a deep respect for Chinese<br />

achievements in art, literature<br />

and commerce that in many cases<br />

preceded comparable developof<br />

the Empress Dowager in the<br />

Qing Dynasty) and Western-style<br />

education “will enable China<br />

once more to take her place<br />

among the great nations of the<br />

earth.” In a remarkably prescient<br />

observation, <strong>Parsons</strong> writes: “The<br />

development of China, assisted<br />

at first by outside influence, but<br />

eventually carried on by the<br />

impulses of her own people, is<br />

as sure to come to pass as in<br />

the case of other nations; and<br />

when at last it has broken down<br />

completely the wall of exclusion<br />

and isolation, the progress that<br />

will follow will produce great<br />

results, aided as it will be by the<br />

mineral wealth of the country<br />

and the industrious habits of<br />

the people.” •<br />

A wooden cantilever bridge in<br />

Hunan. <strong>Parsons</strong> admired it for its<br />

“extraordinary design” and the<br />

use of wood, then rarely used for<br />

heavy construction in China.<br />

18 • Notes<br />

Notes • 19


Notes<br />

on<br />

Projects<br />

Merseytram, Liverpool’s light rail system scheduled to open in<br />

2008, will be sleek, as the rendering shows. Low-level platforms<br />

will make it accessible as well.<br />

Access for All<br />

In Liverpool<br />

In 2008, Liverpool, England, will<br />

show off its full range of history<br />

and the arts when it reigns as the<br />

European Capital of Culture, an<br />

annual European Union program<br />

designed to bring Europeans closer<br />

together and encourage tourism.<br />

Liverpool was chosen in part<br />

because of its plan to accommodate<br />

the expected crowds of tourists<br />

with Merseytram, the city’s first<br />

light rail network. Named after the<br />

region that the River Mersey runs<br />

through, the system will eventually<br />

consist of three lines. PB is providing<br />

design, program management<br />

and system integration for<br />

Merseytravel, the agency responsible<br />

for the light rail network.<br />

PB Project Manager Tony<br />

Mustard reports, “Construction on<br />

Kogan Creek Power Station, in rendering, will be Australia’s largest single power<br />

generating unit. Its technology will conserve water and reduce emissions.<br />

the 19-kilometer [12-mile] Line 1<br />

commences in November <strong>2005</strong><br />

and is scheduled to be completed<br />

in time for the 2008 festivities.”<br />

Merseytram’s dedication to<br />

“accessibility for all” includes<br />

specifications such as low-level<br />

platforms for easy boarding. The<br />

system’s first line will run between<br />

Liverpool City Centre and Kirkby<br />

(a residential area that has low<br />

car ownership). Liverpudlians<br />

also look forward to the environmental<br />

benefits of reduced<br />

traffic, thanks to park-and-ride<br />

facilities. In a survey of potential<br />

riders, Merseytravel found that 62<br />

percent of those who own cars<br />

would use those facilities.<br />

Kogan Creek to Use<br />

Coal in Cleaner Way<br />

On June 10, <strong>2005</strong>, the first structural<br />

steel of the boiler was<br />

erected at the site of Kogan Creek<br />

Power Station, which will be the<br />

largest single power generating<br />

unit in Australia—and one of its<br />

most environmentally friendly<br />

coal-fired power stations.<br />

Babcock-Hitachi, the boiler<br />

contractor, held a ceremony on<br />

the construction site, west of<br />

Brisbane, to mark commencement<br />

of the mechanical and electrical<br />

erection works. As called for in<br />

Japanese tradition, the Hitachi<br />

site manager sprinkled saki on<br />

the footing to purify it. Then<br />

Queensland Minister for Energy,<br />

the Honourable John Mickel, tightened<br />

the holding-down bolts with<br />

a gold-plated wrench.<br />

As owner’s engineer for the<br />

Queensland state-owned CS<br />

Energy, PB Power is working with<br />

the Siemens-led consortium to<br />

complete the engineering design<br />

review. Design for major equipment<br />

was completed in May <strong>2005</strong>.<br />

PB is responsible for review<br />

of detailed design, on-site construction<br />

supervision, testing and<br />

commissioning of Kogan Creek,<br />

the 750-MW, single-machine,<br />

super-critical coal-fired facility.<br />

“The project’s significance,” says<br />

PB’s Project Manager Alastair<br />

Moffat, “is in its air-cooled condensers<br />

and super-critical technology,<br />

which will contribute to<br />

a reduction in specific carbon<br />

dioxide emissions and reduce<br />

water consumption to one-tenth<br />

of that required for the equivalent<br />

size wet-cooled power station.”<br />

He adds, “A super-critical boiler<br />

operates at extremely high temperature<br />

and pressure, achieving<br />

higher efficiency—and more<br />

power is generated with less<br />

carbon dioxide emissions than a<br />

conventional sub-critical boiler.”<br />

When it opens in 2007,<br />

Kogan Creek will be important,<br />

he notes, “because it will utilize<br />

available abundant coal supplies<br />

in a more environmentally<br />

acceptable way.”<br />

Tunneling Complete<br />

On Singapore System<br />

With tunneling complete on the<br />

first phase of the Deep Tunnel<br />

Sewerage System (DTSS), the<br />

Singapore Public Utilities Board<br />

Under construction, a small segment<br />

of what will be a massive wastewater<br />

network for Singapore.<br />

has brought the republic a giant<br />

step closer to a more economical<br />

and reliable wastewater network.<br />

Tunneling was finished in<br />

January <strong>2005</strong>, facilitating a 2008<br />

completion of the system’s first<br />

phase that includes tunnels, link<br />

sewers, ocean outfall and water<br />

reclamation plant.<br />

Since 1997, PB has served as<br />

program manager in joint venture<br />

for design-build of the massive<br />

project to replace the existing<br />

system. Ultimately, the DTSS will<br />

consist of 68 kilometers (42 miles)<br />

of deep tunnels, 170 kilometers<br />

(106 miles) of link sewers, two<br />

treatment plants and 5 kilometers<br />

(3 miles) of outfalls into the<br />

Straits of Singapore.<br />

In the completed tunnel<br />

construction program, eight stateof-the-art<br />

earth pressure balance<br />

tunnel boring machines (EPB-<br />

TBMs) excavated more than 1.5<br />

million cubic meters (1.9 million<br />

cubic yards) of earth to create 48<br />

kilometers (30 miles) of tunnels.<br />

“The EPB-TBMs were successfully<br />

used to excavate long distances<br />

in challenging ground when normally<br />

these machines are used for<br />

much shorter distances,” explains<br />

Dick Flanagan, Tunnel Manager/<br />

Engineering Manager, who is part<br />

of the team overseeing the tunnel<br />

construction program and its six<br />

design-build contracts.<br />

© 2004 michael goodman<br />

Placing the sewerage system<br />

underground will free up 290<br />

hectares (717 acres) for development.<br />

“In Singapore, land is at a<br />

premium,” says PB’s Brian Van<br />

Weele, Project Director from 1999<br />

to 2001. Indeed, the Singapore<br />

Census 2000 reported the island’s<br />

population at over 4 million, and<br />

by 2040 it is expected to be 5.5<br />

million, with attendant demands<br />

for land for housing, employment<br />

and recreation.<br />

Flying Right at<br />

Logan International<br />

In the centerpiece of the<br />

Logan International Airport<br />

Redevelopment, Delta Airlines has<br />

a new terminal that consolidates<br />

its Boston airport operations.<br />

From Terminal A, the airport’s<br />

oldest existing terminal that had<br />

undergone numerous structural<br />

changes, the Massachusetts Port<br />

Authority (MassPort), the agency<br />

that manages Logan airport, and<br />

Delta created a virtually new<br />

63,700-square-meter (686,000-<br />

square-foot) complex. The facility<br />

consists of a main terminal and<br />

a satellite building connected by<br />

an underground pedestrian tunnel<br />

with moving sidewalks to carry<br />

passengers between the terminal<br />

and satellite buildings.<br />

The light, sleek terminal,<br />

with glass panel windows<br />

and brushed metallic ceiling<br />

is Logan’s first truly “green”<br />

structure and was designed to<br />

standards of LEED (Leadership<br />

in Energy and Environmental<br />

Design) for energy use, lighting<br />

and material use. Adding 18<br />

gates and seven apron parking<br />

spots, the new terminal opened<br />

in March <strong>2005</strong>.<br />

PB served as owner’s representative<br />

since May 2000, and<br />

prime consultant since 2001,<br />

overseeing MassPort’s interests<br />

on its largest and most complex<br />

construction program ever. It was<br />

delivered on a fast-track designbuild<br />

basis subject to a guaranteed<br />

maximum price. “While this<br />

delivery method carried risks, we<br />

believed the overall cost reduction<br />

and shorter construction<br />

schedule would lead to a more<br />

economical project,” says Camille<br />

Bechara, PB’s Project Manager<br />

and New England Aviation<br />

Development Director.<br />

The firm received the<br />

MassPort Aviation Excellence<br />

Award following the opening.<br />

Tom Kinton, MassPort Director<br />

of Aviation, praised John Audi,<br />

PB’s Deputy Project Manager and<br />

Manager of Finance and Controls,<br />

for outstanding performance:<br />

“You would find John at 6:30 in<br />

the morning and working late at<br />

night to make sure that the project<br />

was not missing a beat.”<br />

Terminal A at Boston’s Logan International Airport, built with sustainable<br />

materials, is a model of environmentally sound airport construction.<br />

© <strong>2005</strong> david sailors<br />

20 • Notes<br />

Notes • 21


Notes<br />

on<br />

Projects<br />

Kuwait Power Project<br />

Ready for Peak Heat<br />

Phase 2 of the Az-Zour South<br />

power plant in Kuwait went on<br />

line in March <strong>2005</strong>—ready to<br />

meet Kuwait’s summer electricity<br />

demand that peaks along with<br />

the temperature, which can reach<br />

55 degrees Celsius (130 degrees<br />

Fahrenheit) in the shade.<br />

The Kuwait Ministry of Energy<br />

(Electricity and Water Sector)<br />

launched the Az-Zour South and<br />

Az-Zour North projects in 2001 to<br />

avoid an energy shortfall.<br />

“Because of the urgency of<br />

increasing capacity,” explains<br />

Project Director Brian Fullarton,<br />

“the Ministry of Energy allowed<br />

PB to expand the traditional consulting<br />

engineer role and take the<br />

lead in managing Az-Zour South,<br />

enabling our team to work closely<br />

with the contractor to optimize<br />

project performance.”<br />

Phase 1 consisted of four<br />

gas turbines completed in just<br />

16 months, in time for Kuwait’s<br />

2004 summer. Phase 2 added four<br />

more turbines, expanding total<br />

capacity to 1,000 MW. According<br />

to Fullarton, it is expected that in<br />

<strong>Sep</strong>tember testing will be completed<br />

for systems to allow Az-<br />

Zour South to switch from burning<br />

natural gas to standby fuel—gas<br />

oil (distillate)—if the natural gas<br />

supply were interrupted.<br />

To meet Kuwait’s growing demand for electricity, resulting from rapid development,<br />

the Az-Zour South power plant expanded its capacity to 1,000 MW.<br />

Work is slated to begin in<br />

2006 on the 2,500-MW Az-Zour<br />

North power plant.<br />

New Sewers Handle<br />

Los Angeles<br />

Overflows<br />

When the El Niño storms of 1997-<br />

98 swamped Los Angeles’s aging<br />

North Outfall Sewer, the California<br />

Regional Water Quality Control<br />

Board mandated construction of<br />

new sewers to reduce overflows<br />

and accommodate growth through<br />

2050. The Los Angeles Board of<br />

Public Works swung into action,<br />

authorizing two new tunnels to<br />

divert wastewater from the aging<br />

North Outfall Sewer, facilitating<br />

its rehabilitation and ultimately<br />

increasing its capacity.<br />

Construction of 27 kilometers<br />

(17 miles) of interceptor tunnels<br />

was divided into two projects. Led<br />

by Project Manager Jess Albino,<br />

PB provided construction management<br />

on the 2.4-meter (8-foot)<br />

diameter Northeast Interceptor<br />

Sewer (NEIS), put into service on<br />

May 27, <strong>2005</strong>, ahead of the mandated<br />

milestone.<br />

The first project also had been<br />

completed ahead of schedule.<br />

Flows were released into the<br />

3.4-meter (11-foot) diameter East<br />

Central Interceptor Sewer (ECIS)<br />

on August 9, 2004, before the<br />

August 31 deadline. PB provided<br />

design and construction management<br />

on the ECIS also under the<br />

direction of Albino, who succeeded<br />

John Critchfield.<br />

“Teamwork and a dedicated<br />

project office were key to the<br />

successful completion of the<br />

ECIS and the NEIS ahead of<br />

schedule and under budget. The<br />

performance of the new ECIS<br />

Workers on site during construction of<br />

two new sewers in Los Angeles. Now<br />

in operation, the tunnels contained the<br />

area’s second highest recorded rainfall.<br />

© 2002 david sailors<br />

© <strong>2005</strong> david sailors<br />

The Silver Line began service between downtown Boston and the city’s airport<br />

in June <strong>2005</strong>.<br />

was showcased this year with the<br />

second highest recorded rainfall<br />

and no spills, no complaints, no<br />

problems,” says Baron W. Miya,<br />

Principal Project Manager for the<br />

City of Los Angeles.<br />

Bus Rapid Transit From<br />

Boston to Brisbane<br />

Bus rapid transit (BRT) is on a roll.<br />

In Boston, the Massachusetts<br />

Bay Transportation Authority’s<br />

(MBTA) Silver Line Phase II began<br />

operating in December 2004 from<br />

South Station, and in June <strong>2005</strong><br />

an extension to all terminals at<br />

Logan International Airport went<br />

into service. The Boston Globe says<br />

the Silver Line “offers travelers to<br />

Logan the best public transit connection<br />

they have ever enjoyed.”<br />

The service cuts average airport<br />

transit travel time to 26 minutes—<br />

about half the time of previous<br />

trips by public transit.<br />

“Silver Line Phase II really<br />

highlights BRT as a high-quality<br />

alternative to rail,” says PB’s<br />

Project Manager Richard O’Brien.<br />

The service is also helping Boston<br />

achieve transit-oriented development<br />

goals: More than $4 billion<br />

of commercial and residential<br />

development is planned in the<br />

Phase II corridor. PB supported<br />

the MBTA with preliminary engineering<br />

for operations and modeling<br />

to define the alignment, as<br />

well as geotechnical and design<br />

services for Courthouse Station,<br />

connecting tunnels and ventilation.<br />

Phase II vehicles travel from<br />

South Station in an exclusive tunnel,<br />

surface in South Boston and<br />

proceed to Logan via the Ted<br />

Williams Tunnel, constructed as<br />

part of Boston’s Central Artery/<br />

Tunnel project, for which PB was<br />

program manager in joint venture<br />

with the Bechtel Corporation.<br />

BRT also is coming to<br />

Beijing, China. The Beijing Public<br />

Transport Company plans a gridlike<br />

citywide BRT network to<br />

combat growing auto congestion.<br />

PB, led by Project Manager Dr.<br />

Yan Wang, is providing services<br />

including trip pattern and demand<br />

capacity analysis, intermodal integration<br />

and intelligent transportation<br />

system technologies.<br />

And in Brisbane, Australia,<br />

PB is assisting Queensland<br />

Transport with development of<br />

an 85-kilometer (53-mile) metropolitan<br />

area BRT system. With<br />

the success of the South East<br />

Busway, which opened in 2000,<br />

and the Inner Northern Busway,<br />

which opened in 2004, the agency<br />

has begun construction of the<br />

downtown underground link to<br />

connect these two busways. PB<br />

also has advanced the agency’s<br />

planning for two additional<br />

connecting BRT services. PB’s<br />

Brisbane Transit Specialist, Peter<br />

Turner, says PB is providing<br />

planning, design and engineering<br />

services for alignments, stations<br />

and park-and-ride facilities.<br />

“We continue to see evidence<br />

of BRT’s versatility in the different<br />

ways transit owners are<br />

choosing to use this mode,” says<br />

Dick Fleming, National Technical<br />

Leader for Transit Planning for PB<br />

in Australia. •<br />

The architecturally striking Courthouse Station is the<br />

centerpiece of the Silver Line.<br />

© <strong>2005</strong> david sailors<br />

22 • Notes Notes • 23


© <strong>2005</strong> david sailors<br />

Lou Silano: Lauded for lifetime<br />

achievement in design.<br />

Notes<br />

on the<br />

Firm<br />

PB Veteran Lou Silano<br />

Receives OPAL Award<br />

Lou Silano, who has been with<br />

PB for 54 years and worked on<br />

dozens of complex bridge and<br />

tunnel projects, some among the<br />

most well-known infrastructure<br />

projects of the 20th century,<br />

was honored by the American<br />

Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE),<br />

with its Lifetime Achievement in<br />

Design Award at ASCE’s annual<br />

Outstanding Projects and Leaders<br />

(OPAL) gala in April.<br />

Silano, Technical Director for<br />

Major Structures, has worked on<br />

such challenging projects as the<br />

majestic Newport/Pell Bridge in<br />

Rhode Island; the Central Artery/<br />

Tunnel (CA/T) project in Boston;<br />

the Fremont Bridge in Portland,<br />

Oregon; the second Hampton<br />

Roads Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia;<br />

and, most recently, the 63rd Street<br />

Queens Connector and rehabilitation<br />

of Brooklyn’s landmark<br />

Atlantic Avenue train station in<br />

New York City.<br />

“The OPAL award is one of<br />

the industry’s most prestigious.<br />

We are thrilled ASCE recognized<br />

Lou for his decades of achievement<br />

on behalf of PB’s clients,”<br />

says Tom O’Neill, PB Chairman<br />

and Chief Executive Officer.<br />

As Engineering Manager of<br />

the CA/T from 1986 to 1990, Lou<br />

developed a solution for one of<br />

the most difficult engineering<br />

challenges on the project: how<br />

to take a tunnel for I-90 under a<br />

narrow body of water in Boston<br />

Harbor (the Fort Point Channel)<br />

and over a 90-year-old subway<br />

line. Lou came up with the idea<br />

of constructing concrete tubes<br />

on site in a casting basin and<br />

then floating the tubes a short<br />

distance into place. The casting<br />

basin was then used to construct<br />

the approach tunnel to the underwater<br />

tunnel—“an ingenious but<br />

conceptually simple solution to a<br />

very complex problem” that “in a<br />

very real way saved the project,”<br />

according to former Massachusetts<br />

Secretary of Transportation<br />

Frederick Salvucci.<br />

Silano’s philosophy is simple:<br />

“Working together produces successful<br />

engineering projects.”<br />

PB Recognized for<br />

Excellence in<br />

Service to Clients<br />

During early <strong>2005</strong>, PB and its projects<br />

were honored by prestigious<br />

organizations, receiving accolades<br />

for environmental effort and<br />

kudos for construction management<br />

and overall excellence—all<br />

in support of its clients.<br />

<strong>Parsons</strong> <strong>Brinckerhoff</strong> was<br />

named International Consultant<br />

of the Year <strong>2005</strong> by New Civil<br />

Engineer (NCE), the UK’s premier<br />

civil engineering journal. The publication<br />

noted that PB’s Europe-<br />

Africa-Middle East company,<br />

led by Tim Matthews, has such<br />

impressive assignments as project<br />

management of infrastructure<br />

for the manmade Palm Jumeirah<br />

island off the coast of Dubai.<br />

The British Association of<br />

Landscape Industries (BALI)<br />

honored the A3 Thursley<br />

Advanced Mitigation Contract<br />

with a 2004 National Landscape<br />

Award in the Special Award category<br />

of Nature Conservation.<br />

PB’s Project Manager John Craigen<br />

accepted it with landscape contractor<br />

Goddards Ltd. and PB subconsultant<br />

ecologist MKA Ecology.<br />

The project, involving a grade-separated<br />

junction of the A3, is in an<br />

area of Surrey officially designated<br />

and protected for its beauty, nature<br />

and scientific interest. Mitigation<br />

and ecological work—including<br />

preserving adders, slow worms,<br />

common lizards and bats—was<br />

performed for the Highways<br />

Agency under PB’s leadership.<br />

Projects on which PB worked<br />

were honored by the Associated<br />

General Contractors of America<br />

(AGC). Terminal D at George<br />

Bush Intercontinental Airport<br />

won in the Building Renovation<br />

category. Tom Staley, Construction<br />

Project Manager for Terminal D,<br />

working under Vince Lepardo,<br />

Program Manager, and the<br />

PB team, collaborated with<br />

SpawGlass Construction Corp.<br />

for the Houston Airport System’s<br />

International Services Expansion<br />

Program. Terminal D rehabilitation<br />

consisted of upgrading systems<br />

and facilities, and construction<br />

of two sky bridges to the new<br />

International Arrivals Building.<br />

The St. George Island Bridge<br />

Replacement Project in Florida<br />

won for Bridge Renovation. Under<br />

Project Manager John Kemp, PB<br />

provided construction engineering<br />

and inspection services. The contractor<br />

was Boh Bros. Construction<br />

Co., LLC. The 6.6-kilometer<br />

(4.1-mile) bridge, connecting the<br />

island with Florida’s northern Gulf<br />

Coast over Apalachicola Bay, is<br />

one of the Florida Department of<br />

Transportation’s largest designbuild<br />

projects.<br />

Projects of the Year:<br />

Outstanding Outcomes<br />

PB’s Projects of the Year are<br />

outstanding examples of the firm’s<br />

commitment to its clients to develop<br />

innovative technical solutions<br />

and manage complex programs.<br />

Recognizing projects completed<br />

in 2004, the awards were given<br />

in three categories.<br />

In the Constructed Projects<br />

category, the winner is the<br />

Shuweihat Independent Water<br />

and Power Project in Abu Dhabi,<br />

United Arab Emirates. PB served<br />

as technical consultant during<br />

development and as owner’s<br />

engineer during construction. PB’s<br />

development of the first significant<br />

change to the multistage flash<br />

desalination process since its<br />

invention in 1957 was a key<br />

contribution to the project.<br />

Engineers Paul Willson and<br />

George Atkinson developed a<br />

modification to the desalination<br />

process that reduced fuel<br />

consumption and cut emissions,<br />

a boon to the owner and to the<br />

environment. The innovation has<br />

been patented in the UK and<br />

other countries.<br />

Key project personnel<br />

included: Dave Griffin, Project<br />

Manager; Ken Morris, Site<br />

Construction Manager; Robin<br />

Jones, Commissioning Manager;<br />

Bob Docherty, Manager, Quality<br />

Services; Derek Jamieson, Deputy<br />

Project Manager; and John<br />

At Shuweihat, seawater is supplied<br />

to the desalination plant via<br />

an open inlet channel and pumping<br />

station. The desalination plant<br />

performance is enhanced using a<br />

PB-patented process. Stacks for gas<br />

turbines are seen in the background.<br />

Canisters forming the SEREBAR<br />

Groundwater Treatment System<br />

are lifted into place.<br />

Ferguson, Project Administrator.<br />

The winner in the Studies<br />

and Special Projects category is<br />

the SEREBAR Groundwater<br />

Treatment System in Devon, UK.<br />

Professor Bob Kalin of Queen’s<br />

University Belfast, and PB, in<br />

concert with the client, SecondSite<br />

Property Holdings Limited, as well<br />

as researchers from other universities,<br />

developed a permeable reactive<br />

barrier system for a former<br />

gasworks and operating natural<br />

gas storage and distribution center.<br />

The unique SEquential REactive<br />

BARrier (SEREBAR) treats groundwater<br />

contaminated with cyanide,<br />

polyaromatic hydrocarbons and<br />

petroleum hydrocarbons from gas<br />

manufacturing processes.<br />

Key project personnel<br />

included: Andrew Limage,<br />

Principal-in-Charge; Jamie<br />

Robinson, Project Manager and<br />

Geochemist; Russell Thomas,<br />

Biotechnologist; Stuart Jagger,<br />

Resident Engineer; Stuart Cory,<br />

Hydrogeologist; and Nicola<br />

Heighway, Project Administrator.<br />

The winner in the Construction<br />

Engineering and Inspection<br />

category is the Capital Improvements<br />

Program of the Los<br />

Angeles Unified School District<br />

(LAUSD). PB provided program<br />

management support for LAUSD’s<br />

$15 billion construction and modernization<br />

program, the largest<br />

schools capital improvement<br />

program in the U.S. Among the<br />

challenges was the development<br />

of a strategic execution plan<br />

for more than 6,000 repair and<br />

modernization projects. PB also<br />

was instrumental in guiding the<br />

construction department responsible<br />

for managing LAUSD’s New<br />

Schools Construction Program.<br />

Key personnel on the program<br />

included: Jim Delker,<br />

Program Manager; John Doyle,<br />

Director of Construction; Bill<br />

Wilkerson, Director of Facilities<br />

Projects; Chuck Sprick, Director,<br />

Facilities Technology Program<br />

Management Group; Scott Lewis,<br />

Assistant Deputy Chief Facilities<br />

Executive; Bob Moeller, Director<br />

of Construction; and Wendy Reda,<br />

Project Administrator. •<br />

PB provided construction management services for many<br />

schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District.<br />

WTS Names PB<br />

Employer of the Year<br />

<strong>Parsons</strong> <strong>Brinckerhoff</strong> is the<br />

employer for women in its<br />

field, maintains the Women’s<br />

Transportation Seminar (WTS),<br />

which named PB Employer of<br />

the Year at the WTS annual<br />

conference in Scottsdale,<br />

Arizona, in May <strong>2005</strong>. WTS<br />

cited the firm for developing<br />

career opportunities for<br />

women in planning, design<br />

and construction management<br />

of transportation infrastructure<br />

through programs such as<br />

the firm’s Women’s Outreach<br />

Network, which works toward<br />

greater participation by women<br />

in PB’s activities. PB is a WTS<br />

corporate sponsor; 118 PB staff<br />

belong to 29 WTS chapters<br />

across the U.S.<br />

In addition, PB women<br />

hold key WTS leadership<br />

posts. Ann Koby, Principal<br />

Consultant, PB Consult, is WTS<br />

International Vice President.<br />

Terry Gruver, Senior Technical<br />

Specialist, is Director at Large<br />

on the International Board.<br />

Some have been Woman of<br />

the Year in local chapters; for<br />

<strong>2005</strong>, Gruver was lauded in<br />

Phoenix and Janette Sadik-<br />

Khan, PB’s Industry Director<br />

for Transit, will be honored in<br />

New York in October.<br />

© 2003 david sailors<br />

24 • Notes

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