Reservoir design recognized for protecting environment

• Black & Veatch design wins award for protecting environment at the University of Hong Kong; Innovative cavern reservoir design helps preserve listed buildings, hillside, trees, saves space and money, and reduces waste

HONG KONG SAR, PR China, June 7, 2010 -- A design that creatively preserved the heritage and natural environment of the campus grounds at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) won in the Design Category of the 2010 International Water Association's (IWA) Project Innovation Awards for the East Asia region presented last week at The Portman Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Shanghai, China.

Prompted by the Water Supplies Department's initiative of building a service reservoir inside a cavern, Black & Veatch's design ingeniously fashioned a cavern to house two service reservoirs as part of HKU's Centennial Campus expansion. The novel approach had never been attempted in Hong Kong before and was commended for the environmental benefits that it brought about.

There was a fresh water service reservoir inside the proposed campus expansion site supplying drinking water to local residents. The original project scope called for replacing this reservoir with two new reservoirs with a total capacity of 26,500 cubic meters on platforms cut into the Lung Fu Shan hillside located next to the site.

The innovative solution hinged on the construction of salt water service reservoirs that would be housed in a new cavern carved out from inside the hill. The new fresh water service reservoirs would then be built on the area previously occupied by the original salt water service reservoirs.

The award-winning design saved a significant number of trees and an area of 6,000 square meters from destruction. By ensuring the slopes and trees all stayed intact, the amount of generated waste was reduced by approximately 85 percent. Three graded historical buildings, as well as the habitats of a number of protected species of flora and fauna, were also preserved.

In addition, Black & Veatch was able to complete the project six months ahead of schedule and under budget.

The project, "Design and Construction of Re-Provisioning of WSD Utilities and Infrastructure Works for Proposed Centennial Campus of the University of Hong Kong," was appropriately recognized for its achievements on the eve of World Environment Day, 5 June.

About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch is a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company specializing in infrastructure development in energy, water, telecommunications, management consulting, federal and environmental markets. Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch develops tailored infrastructure solutions that meet clients' needs and provide sustainable benefits. Solutions are provided from the broad line of service expertise available within Black & Veatch, including conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management, program management, construction management, environmental, security design and consulting, management consulting and infrastructure planning. With $2.7 billion in revenue, the employee-owned company has more than 100 offices worldwide and has completed projects in more than 100 countries on six continents. Web: www.bv.com

Additional information:

• Black & Veatch was the consultant appointed by HKU for the Design and Construction Supervision of Re-provisioning of Water Supplies Department (WSD) Utilities and Infrastructure Works for Proposed Centennial Campus of the University of Hong Kong.
• Construction waste generated from the originally proposed solution is estimated to have been 280,000 m³. Actual volume of soil and rock excavated was about 40,000 m³.
• The three graded buildings that were preserved are the Western Senior Staff Quarters (Grade II), Western Workmen's Quarters (Grade III) and the Elliot Treatment Works Building (Grade III).
• Black & Veatch was also awarded an innovation and creativity award for its work on the project at the 2009 Hong Kong Awards for Industry, which was held on January 18, 2010.

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