Sep 2005 - Parsons Brinckerhoff
Sep 2005 - Parsons Brinckerhoff
Sep 2005 - Parsons Brinckerhoff
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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