ICON Q1 2012

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International Construction Review

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01 QUARTER 2012

NEW WAVE

Hong Kong’s $60-billion infrastructure upgrade

ALSO INSIDE: SNC-LAVALIN’S TROUBLE WITH SAADI GADDAFI WHY INDIA’S COMPANIES STRUGGLE OVERSEAS EAST AFRICA’S ENERGY PROJECT BOOM

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CONTENTS | 3

IN THIS ISSUE 6 GLOBAL ROUND-UP

Canada’s SNC-Lavalin mired in scandal over alleged plot to rescue Saadi Gaddafi; Major US Hotel groups race to build in Iraqi Kurdistan; China vows to build 36 million affordable homes; Why American contractors love Mitt Romney; Strabag tackles traffic in Tanzania 10 INDIA’S EARTHQUAKE UNREADINESS

Mridu Khullar Relph delves behind the usual issues of negligence and corruption to find out just why India may be more at risk than ever to the next big earthquake 14 EAST AFRICAN ENERGY BOOM

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Weak and unpredictable electricity supply is a huge problem for East Africa, where better-than-average economic growth has led to a surge in demand.

Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda are rising to the challenge with ambitious energy infrastructure plans, drawing in finance and technical services from abroad. Shem Oirere reports 18 INDIA’S STAY-AT-HOME COMPANIES

Like their Chinese counterparts, Indian construction firms have advantages that firms from industrialised countries could only dream of, including access to very cheap labour, equipment and materials. And yet India lags far behind in the international contractor league tables. Manjusree Modak asks why

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22 HONG KONG’S FOURTH WAVE OF DEVELOPMENT

You could be forgiven for thinking that there is little room to build anything else in Hong Kong. But you'd be wrong. Here Raymond Wong outlines how the planned “fourth wave” of infrastructure development, 10 major projects totalling US$60bn, will blast through rock, cut into mountains, and bridge the ocean in order to re-orient itself to the booming Mainland, open up more space for development and speed the flow of goods and people 30 RESTORATION IN ROMANIA

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In 2001 the glory of Transylvania's Banffy Castle was more than just faded.

The structure was on the cusp of utter disintegration. Since then it has become the centre of a unique experiment in both restoration and craft skills instruction. Here, project director David Baxter describes how the castle's slide into ruination was reversed, and how a new generation of architects, engineers and craftspeople are discovering how to revive the past

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01 QUARTER 2012

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CONTENTS | 5

WHERE THE ACTION IS As a trading hub, Hong Kong always oriented itself outward, to the world, where the action was. For over five decades after WWII if you crossed from Hong Kong Island to the so-called New Territories on the mainland and headed north, development thinned until you came to the no-man's land around the Shenzhen River. Beyond the patrolled border lay the vast, sleeping, inscrutable giant of the People's Republic.

Now, with China's staggering growth, Hong Kong must re-orient itself, and is doing so in a series of co-ordinated leaps that will boggle minds in the economically stagnating West. First announced by Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang in his 2007 policy address, the 10 major new infrastructure projects got off to a stuttering start, no doubt delayed by the global financial crisis of 2008. But work across a range of fronts has begun. An exception is the proposed link between Shenzhen and Hong Kong airports, for which a proposal with any detail is yet to emerge. Nevertheless the programme now palpably underway looks set to change the way goods and people circulate in the whole Pearl River Delta region within 10 years. Turn to page 22 for Raymond Wong's fascinating overview.

Another development spot hot enough to be visible from space is the energy sector in East Africa. In the last issue Shem Oirere outlined the massive effort in the region to provide a basic rail network. Here (page 14) he explores the drive to overcome another major hurdle to economic and social development: the lack of electricity. In Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda the race is on to build new power plants and transmission lines to meet surging demand from businesses. This focus on the fundamentals in East Africa, a region currently enjoying economic growth, is to be welcomed warmly.

Meanwhile, if the best type of development benefits society, Mridu Khullar Relph’s report (page 10) on India's vulnerability to earthquakes provides a sobering reminder of how easy it is to get the fundamentals wrong. India's National Disaster Management Authority believes that 68 percent of the country's urban population is now in danger due to poorly designed buildings. While corruption and negligence are factors, so to is a building code that is basically unsuitable for India's on-the-ground realities. Other countries experiencing rapid development and urbanisation should take note.

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6 | GLOBAL ROUND-UP

Housing in need of upgrade in Wuhan, China

CHINA HOUSING

CHINA VOWS TO BUILD 36M AFFORDABLE HOMES Affordable housing has risen to an all-time high on China's agenda. The government has vowed to build 36 million affordable housing units between 2011 and 2015 to meet demand from low-income groups. In 2011, 10 million units were started and a further seven million got underway in 2012, Zhang Xueqin, deputy director of housing security in the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, told state news agency Xinhua.

House prices have risen dramatically over the past decade in China, fuelled by economic growth and mass migration from rural areas to the cities, leading some observers to predict a crash in the housing market.

But since April 2010, the government has imposed a raft of measures aiming to calm house prices, including higher down payments, limits to

the number of homes people can buy, a new property tax in some cities and the push for subsidized housing construction. According to official figures, these measures are working. In January, none of the 70 major cities monitored by the National Bureau of Statistics reported an increase in new home prices, with 48 cities experiencing drops from a month earlier, Xinhua reported.

Housing is an important issue during a year that will likely see Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang succeed Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao as top Politburo Standing Committee members at the 18th Party Congress.

Its importance is highlighted by the fact that the housing ministry says it will strictly supervise construction of affordable housing to ensure quality. Zhang Xueqin, told Xinhua that the ministry

would supervise the whole process from geological surveying to completion. He said the legal entities responsible for the housing projects will be required to take lifelong liability for the quality of their projects.

The Communist Party needs local government support to achieve its ambitious housing plans.

Xinhua reported that the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is putting pressure on local governments to “make extensive use of their financing vehicles to raise money via both direct and indirect channels, spurring the social capital to invest in low-income housing projects”. But the central government may have a fight on its hands as many local governments supplement their cashflow by selling land to private developers. icon

US REPUBLICAN RACE

ANTI-UNION STANCE ENDEARS REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE MITT ROMNEY TO CONTRACTORS GROUP Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has endorsed Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to be the 45th president of the United States. The association’s endorsement of Romney came during the ABC National Board of Directors meeting in Phoenix, Arizona in February.

“The election of Mitt Romney as president is a top priority for the commercial and industrial construction industry and the millions

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Mitt Romney

of Americans it employs,” said 2012 ABC National Chairman Eric Regelin.

“He has articulated a clear position on issues important to ABC members, including opposing federally mandated project labour agreements, returning the National Labor Relations Board to a neutral arbiter of labor disputes and supporting the free-market, merit shop philosophy.”

In his speech before the ABC board, Romney said: “If I become

president of the United States I will curb the practice we have in this country of giving union bosses an unfair advantage in contracting. One of the first things I will do, actually on day one, is I will end the government’s favouritism towards unions in contracting on federal projects and end project labour agreements.

“I also will make sure that workers in America have the right to a secret ballot and I will fight for right to work laws.” icon 01 QUARTER 2012

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FORMER UK PRIME MINISTER JOHN MAJOR RECRUITED TO ASSIST AECOM

Sir John Major

Aecom has established a “global advisory board” to be chaired by former UK Prime Minister, Sir John Major. The board is designed to help the company enter new regions and business areas.

Also on the board is former Prime Minister of Singapore, Goh Chok Tong; chairman of India's Housing Development Finance Corporation, Deepak Parekh; and Dr. Daniel Thorniley, President of Vienna-based DT-Global Business Consulting.

John M. Dionisio, AECOM chairman and chief executive officer, said: “The advisory board will be especially valuable in offering guidance as Aecom increases its participation in geographic areas of focus such as Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, India and Latin America as well as highgrowth businesses such as oil and gas, energy, mining, and national security.”

Sir John, who also served as the UK Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer said: “I am delighted to chair such a distinguished advisory board of members prepared to offer their experience and expertise in support of one of the world’s most ethical companies.” icon

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UAE

“Walkability” is key factor in new residential masterplan approved for Yas Island, Abu Dhabi The masterplan for a new 680-ha waterfront community of up to 55,000 inhabitants on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, led by Broadway Malyan for client Aldar PJSC, has been approved by the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council.

The plan see a series of distinct communities which will become the main residential areas on Yas Island.

The project is the latest stage in the development of Yas Island, Abu Dhabi’s new leisure and entertainment district that features the F1 motor racing circuit, signature hotels, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi theme park, as well as the under-construction water-park and Abu Dhabi destination retail development.

The masterplan includes a comprehensive open space, road, light rapid transport, pedestrian and cycle network to other notable destinations on the island, with good ‘walkability’ a key factor in the design.

Schools, health clinics, sports and recreation facilities, and convenience retail are included. icon

Broadway Malyan’s Yas Island residential masterplan

IRAQ REDEVELOPMENT

MAJOR US HOTEL GROUPS LAUNCH BOLD PLANS IN KURDISH IRAQ

Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan

The ancient and relatively peaceful city of Erbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan in the north of the country, is experiencing an upsurge in tourism, which has prompted three major hotel groups to set up there.

Marriott, Hilton and Best Western have all announced new-build plans.

Marriott International signed agreements with Empire Iraq to manage a 200-room, upscale hotel plus a 75-unit Marriott Executive Apartments property. Both are planned to open in 2014. These will be Marriott's first hotels in Iraq.

The hotels will be part of a large, mixed-use project called “Empire World,” now under construction that includes residential towers, private villas, office towers and retail and leisure space.

According to the website of

Rudaw, an English-language Kurdistan newspaper, Kurdistan’s Ministry of Municipality and Tourism has said that 1.7 million tourists visited the Kurdistan Region in 2011, with over a million visiting the city of Erbil alone. Erbil is served from Europe and the Middle East by international air carriers including Lufthansa, Etihad, Turkish, Royal Jordanian and Fly Dubai.

Hilton Worldwide is set to open its first hotel in Erbil under a management agreement with NewYork-based real estate developer The Claremont Group. Comprising of 200 serviced apartments, DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Erbil is expected to open at the end of 2013.

“Erbil's commercial status is increasing year on year and the city has a growing reputation as an up

and coming tourist destination,” said Rudi Jagersbacher, area president, Middle East & Africa, Hilton Worldwide.

“There is so much potential in Kurdistan and particularly the city of Erbil,” said Stephen Lari, Principal of The Claremont Group. “We've seen travel to the region grow considerably over the past couple of years. If that trend is going to continue then further infrastructure is required to support the industry.”

The Claremont Group has also started building a 1,600-unit, mixeduse gated community of apartments and villas for middle income families in Erbil. Called “The Atlantic”, the development will be built near the city's central business district and international airport.

The Kurdistan Regional Government estimates that there is demand for more than 100,000 such housing units, Stephen Lari said, adding: “We'd like to commend President Barzani and the leadership of the Kurdistan Regional Government for fostering a secure, stable and proinvestment environment.”

Meanwhile Bloomberg has reported that Best Western International Inc. plans two hotels under its Premier brand in Erbil. icon

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8 | GLOBAL ROUND-UP

LIBYA FALL-OUT

SNC-LAVALIN MIRED IN GADDAFI ESCAPE SCANDAL Two top executives of Canadian firm SNC-Lavalin have left the company amid controversy over links to an alleged plot to smuggle Colonel Gaddafi's third son, Saadi, into Mexico.

On 9 February SNC, which has had projects worth many hundreds of millions of dollars in Libya, announced that Riadh Ben Aïssa, Executive VicePresident, and Stéphane Roy, Vice-President Controller, had left the company. In its statement SNC said only that: “Questions regarding the conduct of SNC-Lavalin employees have recently been the focus of public attention. SNC-Lavalin reiterates that all employees must comply with our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct.”

The controversy focuses on the detainment in Mexico in November 2011 of Canadian consultant Cynthia Vanier, who was formally arrested in February this year on charges including human trafficking and falsification of passports. Mexican officials allege she was involved in an attempt to smuggle Saadi Gaddafi and his family into Mexico.

Vanier was hired by SNC-Lavalin in June 2011 to go to Libya to provide fact-finding, mediation and facilitation services. Her report to SNC dated September 2011 advised SNC on resuming work with the new Libyan government.

The consultancy agreement for the work, for which Vanier's company charged CAN$5,000 per day plus expenses, was signed by Stéphane Roy. To complicate matters, Stéphane Roy was in Mexico in November during the period when Vanier was detained. SNC-Lavalin admitted to media that Roy “had reported” that he went to meet with Vanier to discuss possible water treatment projects in the country. She was detained a day before that meeting.

Since announcing Roy's departure SNC has distanced itself both from Cynthia Vanier and from Stéphane Roy's actions. In a letter to Vanier's lawyer on 15 February, SNC's lawyer said “all services your clients may have rendered have been requested by employees acting outside the scope of their normal duties with the company.” SNC's lawyer further said SNC would not be paying Ms. Vanier any more money and reserved its rights to claim back any money already paid. This letter was obtained by the Canadian Broadcasting

Corporation (CBC) and published on its website.

SNC-Lavalin's success in Libya has been attributed to former Executive Vice-President, Riadh Ben Aïssa, who had worked for SNC for 27 years and had very close ties to Saadi Gaddafi.

CBC News reported that in late August and early September 2011, Ben Aïssa and SNC-Lavalin paid to fly one of Saadi Gaddafi's personal bodyguards, a Canadian called Gary Peters, from Canada and host him in Tunis. CBC says that Peters claimed he was at SNC-Lavalin’s offices in Tunis, where he and Ben Aïssa held a video conference with Saadi Gaddafi and Stéphane Roy, talking about potential plans for Gaddafi's movements. In the ensuing days, CBC reported, Peters entered Libya to join an armed convoy to escort Saadi Gaddafi to Niger.

Gaddafi has stayed in Niger, despite an international warrant issued for his arrest.

Hours after SNC announced his departure on 9 February 2012, Riadh Ben Aïssa issued a statement “setting the record straight”. In this statement Ben Aïssa insisted he was not fired but that he resigned and that he would take legal action against his former company for damaging his reputation by suggesting that he had not been complying with SNC's Code of Ethics and Business Conduct.

The statement did not say why he had resigned.

“After nearly 27 years with SNC-Lavalin,” the statement said, “Mr. Ben Aissa laments the manner in which the company decided to announce the end of their professional relationship.”

SNC-Lavalin now faces the task of containing the damage. On 28 February the company announced it had initiated an independent investigation into undocumented outgoings of CAN$35 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 “that were documented to construction projects to which they did not relate”. It also announced a “loss of approximately $23 million from a revised position of the Company's net financial exposure on its Libyan projects”. As a result of these and other losses, the company said its 2011 net income was expected to be approximately 18% (CAN$80 million) below its previous forecast.

Shares in the company fell 23 percent after the announcement, the stock's biggest intraday drop since January 1992, according to Bloomberg.

Neil Linsdell, an analyst at Versant Partners Inc. in Montreal, linked the plunge to the Gaddafi scandal, saying in a note to clients that SNC is now grappling with a “tarnished” image, Bloomberg reported. icon

Saadi Gaddafi, third son of the former Libyan ruler, had close ties to SNC-Lavalin

INFRASTRUCTURE

Egypt’s ambitions for mass transit move closer as the Vinci-led Vinci's long association with Cairo's developing metro system reached another milestone in February with the opening of the first segment of the new Line 3.

The phase includes five underground stations running from central Cairo to the east. Once finished, Line 3 will cross the Egyptian capital from east to west.

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A dream expressed by President Nasser in the early 1950s, the current development of the Cairo metro is part of a Greater Cairo transport strategy up to 2022.

Vinci says 3,500 people, including 85 expatriate staff, worked on this 51-month project. Vinci Construction Grands Projets led a consortium comprising Bouygues Travaux

Publics of France, and Egypt's own firms, Orascom and Arab Contractors.

The 235-million-euro Phase 1 civil engineering contract covered construction of a 4.2-km tunnel section and five stations. Vinci subsidiary ETF-Eurovia Travaux Ferroviaires led the consortium responsible for the track works 01 QUARTER 2012

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CSCEC WINS ALGERIA'S BILLIONEURO MOSQUE DEAL

Dar es Salaam is the third fastest growing city in Africa and traffic jams are a huge problem

INFRASTRUCTURE

Strabag to help get Dar es Salaam on the buses Publicly-listed Austrian firm Strabag has won a 134-million-euro contract to ease traffic in Tanzania's largest city, Dar es Salaam, by building a bus rapid transit (BRT) system.

Announced 10 February, the order includes priority bus lanes and the repair and expansion of three main traffic arteries, totalling 21km, linking the city and its port with the western interior and routes to neighbouring countries Burundi and Rwanda.

Dar es Salaam is the third fastest growing city in Africa, according to urban affairs think tank City Mayors Foundation, and traffic jams are a huge problem. Tanzanian newspaper The Citizen reported in

2010 that the Confederation of Tanzania Industries believe traffic jams eat up to 20 percent of annual profits of most businesses.

Strabag has 36 months to complete the job, which involves building centre lanes in the main roads exclusively for use by public buses.

The roads will also be widened to maintain two-lane traffic and new bicycle lanes and pedestrian sidewalks will be added. A bus stop will be built in the centre lane every 500m-to700m, and the main and terminal stations Kimara, Ubungo and Morocco are to be developed.

Infrastructure works include the laying of drinking water pipes, the

development of the wastewater system and the telecommunication network, as well as the construction of street lighting and traffic facilities.

Construction was set to begin February 2012.

Strabag CEO Hans Peter Haselsteiner, said: “The works awarded to our subsidiary Strabag International GmbH are part of the Second Central Transport Corridor Project, which is intended to support Tanzania’s economic growth through an efficient transport system. The most important components are the urban transport system in Dar es Salaam, the trunk roads, and Zanzibar Airport.” icon

“MOVING 8M PEOPLE IN ONE CITY ALONE INTO STRUCTURALLY-COMPLIANT BUILDINGS IS GOING TO TAKE DECADES” RR INDIA AND EARTHQUAKES, P10

Chinese construction giant CSCEC will build a onebillion-euro mosque in Algeria that is expected to be the third largest in the world, reportedly beating a Lebanese-Italian firm and an Algerian-Spanish firm for the contract.

“There will be nothing like it in the world, religiously, touristically and economically,” said Algerian Religious Affairs Minister Bouabdallah Ghlamallah in announcing the deal with China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) on 28 February, AFP reported.

Thought to be the world's third largest mosque after those in Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, the new mosque will sit on 20 hectares of land in the Mohammadia area of the capital, Algiers, with its minaret rising 270 m. It will accommodate 120,000 worshippers, with seating for 2,000, and will also feature a library for one million works, a museum and a research centre.

“Work will start today after the signing of the contract and should be completed in 42 months,” the minister said, AFP reported.

CSCEC has been in Algeria for the past 30 years and built the five largest hotels in the country, AFP said. icon

Line 3 of Cairo's metro opens package. This included the supply and laying of 11 km of track and the power rail in the tunnel.

Vinci built the first two metro lines in Cairo, which now serve nearly four million passengers per day. The same consortium is working on Phase 2 of Line 3, comprising 6.5 km of tunnel and five more stations. Vinci says this phase is 60 percent finished and is

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scheduled for handover in early 2014.

Egypt's National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) is now working on design studies for Phase 3, Vinci says.

Vinci has a long track record in major projects in Egypt and signed the design-build construction contract for the new Assiout dam in December 2011. icon

A metro system for Cairo was a dream expressed by President Nasser in the early 1950s

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10 | BRIEFINGS INDIA

DICING ON THE FAULT LINE Mridu Khullar Relph delves behind the usual issues – negligence and corruption – to find out just why India may be more at risk than ever to the next big earthquake

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n January 26, 2001, the earth below Rajni Patel’s feet started shaking and for what seemed like an eternity, it didn’t stop.

“It was a bank holiday on account of Republic Day, so my husband, two kids and I were just lazily having breakfast and watching television when the tremors began,” says Patel. “We were on the ground floor, so as soon as we realized they were getting stronger, we rushed outside. Things were already beginning to fall inside the house when we were escaping.”

Patel’s house was damaged but not destroyed and she managed to get out of the building with her family intact. But others weren’t so lucky. The Gujarat earthquake, which lasted for over two minutes, was 7.6 in magnitude and killed around 20,000 people. An additional 167,000 people were injured and nearly 400,000 homes destroyed.

What followed was even more shocking. Media reports started surfacing almost immediately of corruption and greed among not just private builders who had cut corners and been lax about safety in their constructions, but also among local and state government officials who had looked the other way when buildings weren’t up to code. Pressure mounted, independent inquiries were said to be underway, and people vowed never to let this happen again.

Eleven years on, earthquake preparedness is more on the government’s radar. We have a brand new National Disaster

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Management Authority (NDMA). Guidelines are being drafted and seismic monitoring is being stepped up. But the fundamentals remain unchanged. Building codes are ignored and are in any case irrelevant to India’s vast and spreading informal settlements. Corruption remains rampant, leading many to wonder if India is not even more vulnerable to a highintensity earthquake.

LIFE ON A FAULT LINE According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), about 68 percent of India’s urban population is in danger due to poorly designed buildings which are vulnerable to earthquakes.

The earthquake-resistance design code divides the country into four designations: Zones 2, 3, 4 and 5 with Zone 5 expecting the highest level of seismicity and Zone 2 expecting the lowest. “There are 344 towns that fall in the Zone 5 category making them amongst the most damage-prone cities in the world,” Shashidhar Reddy, vice-chairman of the NDMA, told reporters last year. Another 813 cities, including the capital New Delhi, as well as Patna, Thane, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Meerut and Faridabad, come under Zone 4. Sixtyone percent of all India’s civic bodies are located in these Zone 4 cities.

“The center of the Himalayas and the north-east Himalayas

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: The Gujarat earthquake of 2001 killed around 20,000 people, injured 167,000 and destroyed nearly 400,000.

A workable building code for India must take into account the vast discrepancies between how the rich and poor live, says C.P. Rajendran of the Centre for Earth Sciences

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are the most vulnerable parts in terms of potential earthquake hazards,” says C.P. Rajendran of the Centre for Earth Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. “In those areas, especially the central Himalayas, geologists have come up with a recurrent state for over a hundred years for large earthquakes. It is time now that we might have another big earthquake in that region.” Apart from this Himalayan belt, the north-eastern states too are high risk, as are the Andaman and Nicobar islands down south.

Parts of the Gujarat and Kutch regions also fall into the Zone 5 category.

Since 1988 India has had five moderate earthquakes, measuring between 6.0 and 6.4 on the Richter scale. In the last 115 years four of the greatest earthquakes, that is, measuring above 8.0 on the Richter scale, have occurred in India. While the world’s seismic scientists have studied these earthquakes, India has lagged behind not only in studying them, but in preparing for their aftermath as well.

What needs to be done is neither simple nor easy. Nor, for that matter, quick. “In the short term, we need to begin with higher density areas and do an immediate audit of the risks,” says Manit Rastogi, the New Delhi-based co-founder of the

“MOVING 8M PEOPLE IN ONE CITY ALONE INTO STRUCTURALLY-COMPLIANT BUILDINGS IS GOING TO TAKE DECADES”

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architectural firm Morphogenesis. “Earthquakes are all about loss of life. There is loss of property, sure, but that is secondary.”

What needs to be done, in Rastogi’s opinion, is to take all the unauthorized areas of a city and formulate a structural and architectural scheme and do an immediate audit and find local solutions. “You can’t tear down and rebuild, that’s a very long exercise,” he explains. “Fifty percent of Delhi lives in slums and unauthorized colonies and that’s the official figure.

The unofficial figure is probably much higher. So in a population of 15 million, we’ve got close to eight to 10 million people who are exposed to the after effects of an earthquake.”

The focus should be on recovery, he says. “We don’t have support infrastructure in terms of hospitals or evacuation strategies, so disaster management is one level that the government should immediately put into place.” Many places in the country’s capital are not even accessible to ambulances, fire brigades or evacuation teams, so in the event of a disaster, the loss of life will be caused as much by lack of relief as by collapsing buildings. The fragile self-help mechanisms of the sprawling slums will be disrupted and infection, dehydration, disease, starvation and exposure will move in to exact their toll.

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RR structurally-compliant buildings is going to take decades,” says Rastogi. “So I think the task really at hand is to first get an audit of all these places done and see what is the vulnerability of the attack, what is the potential damage that could arise, and then create disaster management systems around it. And then start the slow and gradual process of doing refurbishments to the existing structures to make them compliant.”

Earthquakes are an urban problem and therefore a growing one, says Rastogi. “The population density in rural areas is so low and the structures so light that it doesn’t really matter all that much.” But in cities like Delhi and Mumbai, migration has led to millions of people from small towns and villages finding shelter in unauthorized settlements and slums. “These populations are exploding and one can safely assume that in five years, an extremely large part of the population will be living in the urban areas. By straightforward logic, there are simply going to be a lot more people vulnerable to earthquakes.”

LACK OF PREPAREDNESS To date, India’s seismic building regulations have largely been ignored. The NDMA recently mandated that all new constructions be built such that they are earthquake resistant but implementation has been minimal. The NDMA itself expressed concern. “Only three per cent of buildings use concrete while 85 percent of buildings are using brick and stone with no steel reinforcements,” vice-chairman Reddy said recently. A survey by the organization also revealed that of India’s 822,000 engineers and architects, only 14,700 said they had been trained in safe seismic engineering. From an estimated 3,200,000 masons, only 34,000 were found to have any knowledge of seismic design.

“The most fundamental thing is to implement,” says Rajendran. “I think there are so many regulations and rules that are all in the books but when it comes to practice and implementation, that is lacking. So I guess we need to look at that not only from the top level of government, but ensure that it seeps down into the lowest levels, such as at the block level, the panchayat level, the district level, where each level of government understands what areas are the most vulnerable to earthquakes.”

Most construction in India takes place outside the formal sector. Only about 15 to 20 percent of the population of Delhi, for instance, lives in buildings that would comply with codes and that have been through formal regulatory processes and had proper architects and structural engineers on board. The rest is in unauthorised colonies or slums, built without professional or regulatory control.

But the problem may be deeper than the usual bogeymen of negligence or corruption. Rastogi says that the code itself may partly be to blame.

“Post independence, the Indian National Building Code was formulated and the parameters to design, how to structurally design, etcetera, were very clearly laid out,” he says. “They were in fact formulated by referencing the American Structural Engineering Codes and the British Structural Engineering Codes.” But Rastogi contends that the planners stitched together the worst of the American and British codes, making them very stringent, such that following them to the letter made buildings extremely costly to build.

Says Rastogi: “They basically did it on the basis of better safe than sorry and ended up over designing it.”

The net impact is that today the costs of making buildings earthquake-resistant is more than the basic construction costs.

Further, he believes the code is outdated. Even as recently as five or ten years ago, the traditional method of building was to build a base out of stone and maybe use timber or other www.iconreview.org

lightweight materials to put the house up. “In the Himalayan ranges, if an earthquake struck, the house was light enough that it didn’t really kill. While the base was solid, the other materials weren’t.” Today, such buildings do not pass structural code, which recommends concrete buildings with columns and beams, putting the cost way up. The result is often an approximation of compliance, making heavier but more dangerous buildings. “They may build in concrete,” says Rastogi, “but they might not build it up to code. For India, where there is still a substantial amount of poverty and where even developers are under a massive cash crunch, having a stringent and over-prescribed code can actually be counter productive.”

C.P. Rajendran of the Centre for Earth Sciences believes India should adopt a smarter approach to seismic zoning, as

“BY STRAIGHTFORWARD LOGIC, THERE ARE GOING TO BE A LOT MORE PEOPLE VULNERABLE TO EARTHQUAKES” well. “Talking about the Himalayas, we need to come up with some kind of geographic information system approach where you need to understand which areas are the most prone to landslides and ground shaking, because not all areas are uniformly shaken.” He says that what kind of damage is done largely depends on the ground characteristics. “If you have loose material, that will amplify the energy,” he says, “and if you are sitting on a hard rock, the amplification will be less.

So we need to make our zonation maps and bring them up to date with geological research and see how our efforts are best implemented.”

A workable building code for India must also take into account the vast discrepancies between how the rich and poor live, says Rajendran. “There are people who live in small shanties and people who live in big palaces, so there will be a totally different approach to both of them.” He adds: “You need to apply your mind and come up with many different models that will suit the conditions of the country.”

Because so much urbanization has taken place in the eleven years since the Gujarat quake, one might view India’s level of disaster preparedness as largely untested. The National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) was formed in 2005 after the December 2004 tsunami. It is headquartered in New Delhi and reports directly to the Prime Minister. Yet critics say it possesses neither the capabilities nor the personnel to deal with major earthquakes in the cities.

Some believe that India’s stellar performance after the tsunami of 2004 may have led to complacency. Before any other navies, including that of the United States, could reach Indonesia’s shores, the Indian navy was already there attempting rescues. The local state governments, too, were praised for taking immediate and cohesive action.

But confidence is waning. Officials at the NDMA say it’s because while they have technology to match the West, grassroots cooperation and awareness is lacking. For instance after the tsunami the NDMA installed solar panels to power deep-sea sensors in the Indian Ocean to warn them of impending disasters. They were shocked a few weeks later to find that fishermen were stealing the panels.

There are less comical problems. For one, earthquake readiness is a gamble at the best of times. “Designing for an earthquake is a probability situation,” says Rastogi. Both New Delhi and Gurgaon, a booming satellite town near the capital, are classified as Zone 4, but that is based on data going back only 100 years. “It used to be Zone 3 before the Gujarat

RIGHT: Christchurch’s buildings, required to withstand a 500-year or 1000-year types of events, were helpless in the face of the estimated 2500year earthquake of 2011 BELOW: Gurgaon has hundreds of new, highrise buildings, yet sits on a fault line

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earthquake and when that happened, they revised all the zones in India and pretty much pushed everything up by one category.” This doesn’t mean Delhi can’t be hit by an even bigger quake. New Zealand provides a sobering perspective. A report by the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences on the February 2011 Christchurch quake showed the motion of the ground exceeded even 2500-year events. Christchurch’s buildings, required to withstand a 500-year or 1000-year types of events, were helpless in the face of it.

One wonders whether Indian officialdom has even a rudimentary grasp of the odds. In a place like Gurgaon, which sits on a fault line and has hundreds of high-rise buildings, with more going up by the day, an earthquake of a higher capacity could still spell disaster, even if the buildings are being built to code. “That’s because of the lack of civic facilities,” says Rastogi. “There’s no disaster management. Gurgaon won’t be able to deal with evacuation or hospital care or any of that.”

CALIBRATED TO SOOTHE “There is a lot left to be done,” admits R.S. Dattatrayam, the Head of Seismology at India’s Meteorological Department under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. He says the government is trying to address the issue of earthquake preparedness in

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several different ways. The Institute of Sciences has a national program on earthquake precursors to understand the prequake processes. He says plenty of institutions are studying seismic design. “At the center we have the agencies that are dealing with the design aspects of dams and reservoirs, and at the state level, they’re doing the implementation.”

The government is also working on microzonation.

“According to this, the megacities falling in Zones 4 and 5 are further grouped into areas of higher and lower potential for damage,” explains Dattatrayam. His language seems calibrated to soothe: “Guidelines are being published and people are being educated on the need for following these guidelines and the roles of the agencies are being very well defined. Very high resolution data sets are being generated by using state of the art technologies for providing the necessary inputs for the engineering community.”

But others feel that government efforts are too little, too late. “I think we need to start from scratch in many areas,” says Rajendran. “The government has a lot of initiatives in terms of adding to the network of seismic instruments all over the country through which we are now able to pick up even smaller earthquakes. So there is already a mechanism in place and there are also improvements in terms of monitoring and archiving the data. The problem comes when it’s down to the hazard management and disaster preparedness.”

In June 2011, a few months after a tsunami and earthquake ravaged parts of Japan and triggered meltdowns at three of the country’s nuclear reactors, India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called together experts to review India’s own disaster preparedness and directed government agencies to upgrade safety measures at all nuclear installations. He told the media that he was satisfied with the safety and security of the country’s 20 operational nuclear stations and discussed new measures such as installing hitech radiation-measuring gadgets in 35 cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

The NDMA, too, seems to have made rapid strides in its six years of existence. The agency now has 10 battalions of paramilitary forces under its command, who have been trained in rescue operations. According to the NDMA vicechairman Shashidhar Reddy, they have also created a network “so strong that it represents each district in the country.” In addition he told media last year that the NDMA has come up with a draft on seismic retrofitting which needs to be put in place for all construction activities. “We are also stepping up school safety programs in 22 states so that children are taught how to deal with these situations,” he said.

But others feel that the government’s efforts will do little to mitigate disaster. The problem, they say, is not the lack of regulations, but the indifference to them. Government agencies and municipal bodies are marred by corruption and often look the other way when building codes are violated, and implementation and enforcement of the codes, as a result, is minuscule. What India needs is a smarter approach comprising five parts: 1) a realistic plan for disaster mitigation in slums and informal settlements; 2) new, sensible building codes that work with nature and that even local builders – even informal builders – can meet and see the logic of; 3) strict enforcement; 4) a functional warning system; and 5) regular earthquake drills among the population.

Eleven years after the Gujarat earthquake killed thousands, is India any better prepared? It’s cold comfort to know that only the next big quake will be the judge. icon Mridu Khullar Relph is a freelance journalist based in New Delhi, India.

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POWER TO THE PEOPLE Weak and unpredictable electricity supply is a huge problem for East Africa, where better-than-average economic growth has led to a surge in demand. Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda are rising to the challenge with ambitious energy infrastructure plans, drawing in finance and technical services from abroad. Shem Oirere reports

On February 16 this year shares in Tanzania's biggest electricity user, the gold mining group African Barrick Gold, fell by more than 10 percent, even though revenues were up by a quarter and shareholders pocketed bigger dividends. Why? Because power shortages and higher labour costs had led to a two percent drop in production.

Weak and unpredictable power supply is a huge problem for people and businesses in East Africa. The region has an installed capacity of about 2,400MW, out of which only around 2,000MW is available due to inefficiencies and failing infrastructure. And yet demand has surged past 2,500MW. Small and medium sized firms, especially manufacturers, must seek expensive alternative power sources such as diesel generators whenever electricity is rationed in Kenya and Tanzania. Those who can't afford these have to suspend operations, with predictable results – disruption, business failures and job losses. In the last quarter of 2011 Uganda’s cement manufacturers and suppliers complained to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics that electricity shortages had raised the month on month indices in the country by 2.5 percent. The East African Business Council (EABC) has listed the cost of electricity among the top obstacles for business in the region. It says that between 2009 and 2011, the price of electricity in east Africa was five to 10 times higher than in Egypt or South Africa.

“The power crisis would eventually turn Kenya into a trading country as opposed to an industrial one thus dashing the country’s plans to industrialize,” says Betty Maina, chief executive of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers.

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It's a bittersweet problem, based on positive economic growth averaging five percent in the region over the last three years. Specifically countries feel they must diversify away from hydro, which accounts for up to 75 percent of generation now. Droughts and short rainy seasons cast doubt on the long-term viability of hydro and threaten the economic gains made so far.

The good news is that Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda appear to be rising to the challenge. The result is an energy infrastructure boom as these countries embark on projects that could generate an additional 3,600MW and substantially expand transmission capacity.

If successful this boom could improve the lives of millions of people in East Africa. In Rwanda, for example, where approximately 90 percent of the population is engaged in agriculture, mainly subsistence farming, simple electric water pumps would help irrigation and increase yields. In Kenya the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) plans to take advantage of the expanded national grid to link 581 public facilities – schools, hospitals and rural market centres – to the national grid. A major issue remains: cost. Most of the targeted new electricity customers form the bulk of those whom the UN says survive on less than a dollar a day.

Nevertheless, here we take a closer look at development plans country by country.

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KENYA Current demand: Current supply: Of which is hydro: Of which geothermal: Demand growth forecast: Demand by 2031: Geothermal potential:

1,300MW (Ketraco) 1,198MW 677MW 163MW 8% pa (KenGen) 17,000MW (Ketraco) Up to 7,000MW

New plants ● Olkaria III geothermal plant, Naivasha New power lines Rabai (near Mombasa) to Isinya ● Loyangalani to Nairobi ●

Some foreign players Ormat Technologies (US) ● Overseas Private Investment Corporation (US) ● Kalpataru Power Transmission (India) ● KEC International (India) ● Isolux Corsan (Spain) ●

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et to diversify into geothermal, wind and plants fuelled by bagasse (crushed sugarcane husk), Kenya's plans are ambitious, but they may not be enough in the short term for its companies who are lobbying for help in setting up their own power plants.

Kenya wants to bring 2,000MW of extra electricity on line by the end of 2013 at a cost of US$8 billion . The additional electricity will include 600MW from clean coal, 800MW from wind, up to 50MW from bagasse (crushed sugarcane husk), 30MW from hydro and, in a bold move, 520MW from geothermal by the end of this year.

Geothermal is a big story right now. Kenya sits on the East African Rift, a zone in which the African tectonic plate appears to be splitting. Apart from whatever else this might entail long term, it does bring the earth's core heat closer to the surface. Dig down deep enough and you don't have to burn anything to boil industrial quantities of water. The official line is that Kenya has 4,000MW to 7,000MW of unexploited geothermal power under its soil – so says the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) and the Geothermal Development Company, both state-owned firms.

Already, the Olkaria geothermal power plants I and II are pushing 163MW into the national grid. Next in line is Olkaria III, to produce 48MW from its plant in Naivasha. This is a build-own-operate project won by US-based Ormat Technologies. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an American state-owned private finance agency, has provided $310 million for Olkaria III, one of the largest project finance loans Ormat has ever received, Ormat CEO Dita Bronicki said.

Some of the electricity from Olkaria III will be sent to Uganda via a new transmission line. This new 305-km, 220kV double circuit line from the site to Lake Victoria town of Kisumu through Lessos town, also in the Rift Valley, is being built now. It will later be extended to Tororo in Uganda. In December 2011, KenGen awarded Indian firm KEC International a $27-million contract to build a substation and lines to transmit electricity from Olkaria I and II to the national grid.

The geothermal sector seems to be coming to the boil.

State-owned Geothermal Development Corporation says it will

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LOYANGALANI

NAIVASHA

NAIROBI ISYNYA

RABAI

drill 1,130 wells to provide steam for 4,060MW by 2030.

Kenya is also investing in transmission lines. Another Indian firm, Kalpataru Power Transmission, won a $210-million turnkey contract to build a 400km, 400kV double-circuit line from Rabai, Mombasa to Isinya, 55km south of Nairobi. The project also involves the extension of Rabai and Embakasi sub-stations, a separate contract executed by Germany’s Siemens. Due for completion in the last quarter of 2012, the project is being financed by the African Development Bank, European Investment Bank and French Development Agency.

Spain’s largest unlisted public works group, Isolux Corsan, signed a deal last June with Ketraco to build a 400-kV double-circuit transmission line from a 300-MW wind farm at Loyangalani, on the shores of Lake Turkana, 428km south to Suswa, near Nairobi. With a price tag of 142 million euros, it is Kenya’s biggest high-voltage transmission project, and Isolux Corsan's biggest project in Africa, the company says. It is due for completion by the end of 2013, and will additionally convey electricity from new geothermal plants planned along its catchment area.

All these transmission lines will later be linked to those in other countries in the region under an interconnection programme by the end of 2014. “We expect that by 2015, we will have a regional power interconnected grid,” said Fred Mwango, chairman of the Nile Equatorial Transmission Advisory Committee that is overseeing implementation of power projects under the East African Power Pool (EAPP).

Kenya has also teamed up with other countries to construct regional transmission lines which, when complete, will total 8,316 km at an estimated cost of $2,590 million. For example Kenya has signed an agreement with Ethiopia for 1,070 kilometer 500Kv HVDC line linking Wolayta Sodo in Ethiopia to Suswa in Kenya. The $148-million project is slated for completion by 2014, five years after the feasibility study by Fichtner. There are other such joint projects in the offing.

All these plans may not be fast enough for Kenya's businesses, however, some of whom have started building their own power plants. The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) says the government should encourage firms and local entities to establish their own power plants.

This is expensive and fraught with bureaucratic hurdles but

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some have already started. A good example is an edible oil firm in Thika, 10km from Kenya's capital Nairobi. It has launched its own small hydro plant to power its operations and hopes to sell surplus energy to Kenya Power and Lighting Company, the country's monopoly power distributor. Mumias Sugar Company, East Africa's largest sugar miller, is building a power plant fuelled by bagasse, husks of crushed sugarcane. It hopes to generate enough for its milling operations and to sell surplus to KPLC. Similar initiatives have been pursued by East African Portland Cement on the outskirts of Nairobi and the rural factories of the Kenya Tea Development Agency.

“This energy crisis calls for a radical change in policy to allow people to put up their own power plants and generate individual electricity,” says KAM’s chief executive Betty Maina.

“This will see a major increase in the amount of power that is generated locally.”

SHINYANGA

IRINGA

“THIS ENERGY CRISIS CALLS FOR A RADICAL CHANGE IN POLICY TO ALLOW PEOPLE TO PUT UP THEIR OWN POWER PLANTS”

KARUMA

KAWANDA JINJA KAMPALA

UGANDA

New plants ● Karuma dam, Karuma ● Bujagali hydropower plant, Jinja Power lines ● Jinja to Kawanda (Kampala) Some foreign players ● Slithe Global Power (US) ● Energy Infratech (India)

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ganda is still trying to get its hydro generation up to full capacity. The treasury has already allocated $366 million in the current financial year for energy projects.

In February 2012 the long-awaited 250MW Bujagali hydropower plant was commissioned at Jinja with the first 50MW already flowing into the national grid. It cost $800 million and an additional $62 million was spent on building a transmission 100-km line between Jinja and Kawanda near Kampala. Developed by Bujagali Energy Ltd, a joint venture of US consortium Slithe Global Power LLC and Industrial Promotions Services, an investment arm of the Aga Khan Foundation, Bujagali will reach full capacity by July 2012.

Construction of the $2.2-billion Karuma hydropower project is also set to commence following a new feasibility study by India’s Energy Infratech Ltd. The 600MW project was delayed after the original design for a 250-MW plant by Norway’s Norpak was traded in for a bigger one. Norpak pulled out of the project in 2009 citing the global financial crisis.

Officials say construction of Karuma dam will start in May this year. The target, nationally, is to generate a whopping 3,885MW from hydro, according to Uganda's Energy and Mineral Resources minister, Irene Muloni.

Other energy projects underway here include preliminary work on the 140-MW Isimba hydro power plant and a feasibility study on the first phase of the 600-MW Ayago hydro power plant. These projects may be financed through nontraditional forms, such as public-private partnerships (PPPs), finance minister Maria Kiwanuka said.

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TANZANIA 600MW Mchuchuma Thermal Power Plant Songo Songo Gas Development Singida Wind Farm Rusumo Falls Hydro Plant New power lines ● Iringa to Shinyanga Foreign players ● Sichuan Hongda (China) ● Larsen & Toubro (India) ● Japanese International Cooperation Agency ● KenTec Denmark APS (Denmark) ● Aldwych International Ltd (UK)

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anzania is facing a big supply crisis with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warning that growth could fall from a high of 7.2 percent this year to less than 6 percent unless more electricity is provided. The World Bank the blames the crisis on a lack of capital investment and chronic neglect of existing kit. State-owned utility Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) says it needs $815 million to meet current demand, estimated at 879MW. Former World Bank country director John McIntyre says the country needs an extra 150MW every year to meet growing demand.

The World Bank has allocated $2.8 billion in loans for several projects, including two generation projects between 2012 and 2015. And in the middle of last year, Tanzania's ministry of energy and minerals unveiled a 12-month, $318-million development programme to increase the country’s installed electricity capacity by 65 percent.

The plan includes construction of the 600MW Mchuchuma Thermal Power Plant following last year’s agreement between Tanzania and Chinese firm Sichuan Hongda. This is part of a much bigger, $3-bn project to mine coal at Mchuchuma and iron ore at Liganga. Behind this scheme is

Tanzania China International Mineral Resources (TCMR), a joint venture between Tanzania’s staterun National Development Corporation (NDC) with 20 percent and Sichuan Hongda with 80 percent.

The idea is to mine the estimated 480 million tonnes of coal at Mchuchuma to generate 600MW of electricity, use 300MW of that to mine the ore at Liganga and put the remaining 300MW into the national grid, says Chrisant Mzindakaya, NDC board chairman.

Tanzania is also banking on the Songo Songo Gas Development. This involves collecting gas from three offshore and two onshore wells and conveying it through a 16-inch diameter pipeline 221km to the capital Dar es Salaam to power six turbines at the 112-MW Ubungo Power Plant.

India’s Larsen & Toubro recently built the pipeline.

First the Songo Songo natural gas field must be developed. That involves building three offshore marine platforms, a marine pipeline, and related infrastructure works. Then the Ubungo power plant needs upgrading. Two new GE LM6000 gas turbine generators are being installed.

MINING BOOM This project is being implemented by Songas Ltd and Tanesco under the supervision of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals. It's being co-financed by the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and Pan African Energy.

Generating power in Tanzania is one thing but getting it from where it is generated in southern and coastal areas up to the north, where a mining boom is hiking up demand, is another. To address this Tanzania is building a 400kV transmission line between Iringa in south-central Tanzania up to the city of Shinyanga in the north, a distance of 667km, taking in Dodoma and Singida on the way.

This will replace an existing 220kV line.

Lot 1 of the project involves building the line and Lot 2 involves upgrading to 400 kV the substations at Iringa, Dodoma, Singida and Shinyanga.

The estimated $414-million bill is being picked

RWANDA Nyabarongo River hydro power plant Foreign players ● Angelique International (India) ● Snowy Mountains Engineering Corp (Australia)

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he biggest single project here is the $110-million Nyabarongo River hydro power plant, which is expected to generate 28MW when completed in December 2013.

Work is being executed by Australia's Snowy Mountains Engineering Corp (SMEC) under a sub-contract from India's Angelique International Ltd. “We have finished diverting the Nyabarongo River and now

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up in part by the African Development Bank and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It's all part of Tanesco's plan to connect an average of 100,000 people to the national grid every year. Officials say these upgrades will increase in the transfer capacity to 1,000 MW by 2020.

JICA's involvement in another area sheds light on Tanzania's power crisis. Since 2009 JICA has been helping Tanesco devise curricula and train more than 2,000 of Tanesco technicians, engineers and workers in running and maintaining the country's electricity distribution system. JICA says Tanesco hadn't hired any new staff or conducted much training since the mid-1990s.

The $6-million, JICA-funded programme is set to conclude in 2014.

Tanzania is also planning to harness wind, and here the private sector is leading – with some help from the World Bank. Behind the 100-MW Singida Wind Farm project in central Tanzania is Wind East Africa Ltd., a joint venture of Six Telecoms Company Limited, KenTec Denmark APS, and Aldwych International Ltd., a UK-based company with experience in developing power projects in Sub-Saharan Africa.

It will cost an estimated $300m and be built by an engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) contractor. The World Bank says a subsidiary of Aldwych is likely to run the farm. Financial close is expected early 2013 with electricity coming on line by 2014. The World Bank has agreed a Partial Risk Guarantee (PRG) of $100 million to cover commercial lenders against debt defaults resulting from the government’s failure to meet its payment obligations.

In yet another major undertaking Tanzania has teamed with Rwanda and Burundi to build a regional hydroelectric power station at Rusumo Falls on the Kagera River. The project involves construction of 75-MW power station at the 30-mhigh Rusumo Falls and 220kV lines to transmit the power to the three countries.

we have started building the dam,” said the Chief Project Officer Naresh Kapoor.

Exim Bank of India signed a loan deal with Rwanda for $60 million for the hydro power project that will include construction of a 340-km transmission line by SMEC. More broadly Rwanda is also implementing the Electricity Access Roll-Out Programme aimed at bringing electricity to an additional 65,000 households by the end of the current financial year. When fully complete the programme will connect 300,000 new customers and service providers to the grid and build 8,500 km of transmission lines. The entire programme, majorly funded by the World Bank, will cost an estimated $300 million.

In the current financial year the government has allocated $163 million, for electricity provision, up from $125 million the previous year.

NGORORERO

Shem Oirere is a journalist based in Nairobi

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WHY HAVEN’T INDIAN CONSTRUCTION FIRMS STORMED THE GLOBAL STAGE? Like their Chinese counterparts, Indian construction firms have advantages that firms from industrialised countries could only dream of, including access to very cheap labour, equipment and materials. And yet India lags far behind in the international contractor league tables. Manjusree Modak asked them why ICT maturity of Indian firms – self perception BIM

Difficulty of getting Indian customs clearance

RFID technologies Voice mail Voip (voice communications over internet)

43% Firms considering it regular procedure

Bar-coding Web-conferencing Document-management systems – company intranet Project extranet – collaboration tools

57% Firms considering it difficult

Auto CAD Microsoft Office

ABOVE: For each item respondents picked a score between one and five, one being “least mature”. BIM came bottom of the list

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ndia’s presence in the international construction market is growing, but remains minuscule compared to China’s. ENR’s list of top 225 international contractors contained five Indian companies in 2011, up from three in 2010. But the list is far more abundantly populated by Chinese companies, whose presence grew from 32 in 2010 to 50 in 2011.

Why should this be? On the face of it, China and India share advantages that firms from industrialised countries could only dream of: access to very cheap labour, equipment and materials. But as this research indicates, success on the global stage requires much more – technology usage, advanced management, construction techniques and solid financial backing – which the Indian professionals I spoke to admitted were sorely lacking. Furthermore, certain conditions of the Indian domestic milieu, such as widespread corruption, create a financial and logistical drag that undermines the

competitiveness of Indian firms abroad. Such firms are further hampered by protectionist barriers in developed and developing regions which prevent them from leveraging their advantages, and by the fact that other countries, notably China, have a long head-start in building high-level networks of contacts in promising overseas markets.

Based on data collected through interviews and a survey of some of India’s biggest firms, including those who have ventured overseas, this report explores these main barriers preventing Indian construction firms from storming the international stage.

MONEY It goes without saying that to compete internationally firms must possess advantages over both indigenous and foreign competitors. Key amongst these advantages is price. Indian firms struggle to compete on price and the reasons are varied.

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Key challenges related to the capabilities of the firms Dearth of good civil engineers Lack of providing integral service Failure to meet prequalification requirements Selection of capable subcontractors Lack of ability to create financial solutions for clients Limited research and documentation Lack of implementation of ICT tools substantially Differing interpretation of specifications Lack of understanding dispute resolution clauses Lack of management commitment Mis-alignment between home office and host country office Lack of cooperation amongst various agencies Poor supply chain management systems Lack of sophisticated management and technologies

“WE LACK THE EXPERIENCE TO CREATE THOSE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS FOR THE CLIENT”

At a basic level, Indian firms have work to do in streamlining their cost bases. But structural factors too, mitigate against Indian firms competing against firms from China, Turkey and Korea, who generally can arrange financing at more competitive terms.

In an international project, contractors are required to satisfy a set of pre-qualification requirements before bidding.

Bidding is generally a two-step procedure. The company has to prepare a technical bid first. Once the technical bid is short-listed by the client, the financial bid has to be submitted, for which the companies need to arrange for bank guarantees without which the bid gets rejected. To obtain the bank guarantees, Indian firms require approval from various agencies including India’s Exim Bank, at various stages.

Getting multiple approvals from so many agencies is timeconsuming and troublesome and the overall bidding process thus gets expensive.

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Indian firms tend to have a low equity base and are mostly small in size, which has made international clients wary.

Respondents to this research also claimed that Indian firms paid premium charges for India’s Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) for counter guarantees and risk insurance than overseas competitors paid in their respective countries. This adversely affects the cost competitiveness of Indian firms. Also, the ECGC is considered to have limited risk-taking capability to support large-value infrastructure projects. Competitor countries offer attractive credit packages and insurance coverage to the international clients with support from their governments and government agencies.

Another money-related issue is that many international contractors provide integrated financial solutions to attract overseas clients. One interviewee said: “We have sufficient money to invest on an international market but we lack the experience to create those financial solutions for the client.”

Finally, for a few turnkey contracts fetched by the large construction firms, specifications at times stipulate the use of equipment or materials which must be sourced internationally at a premium. These third-country imports make the cost prohibitive for some Indian firms.

COST OF CORRUPTION For almost every Indian service, there is a price to pay. Though corruption is officially condemned, the government’s attempts to eradicate it have so far proved insufficient. Even the largest of construction organisations are bound to bribe in order to survive in the industry. Corruption pervades almost every aspect of construction creating delays and waste, raising costs and diverting materials and resources away from their intended destinations, thus hurting the competitiveness of Indian firms.

However, large firms having made sufficient contacts do not find it to be such a hassle. One of the interviewees said: “During transportation of materials from India, our suppliers have complained that they have to bribe the customs officials for their clearance so that they are able to deliver the material on time.”

This response varied depending on the relationship between the suppliers and the customs officials. New suppliers who were supplying for both types A and B firms found it a difficult procedure whereas the established suppliers felt it was normal. Thus, challenges faced due to corruption are perceived differently by different contractors based on their experience and network of contacts.

CAPACITY Many Indian firms repeatedly find that they do not satisfy the pre-qualification requirements on the value of the work of major international projects. “If we can get some experience in doing some big technical infrastructure projects in India, experience of which can be shown to the clients, we could have been in a better position than we are today,” one interviewee said.

However, even when firms have experience of an equivalent volume of work done in India, requirements often include experience in handling similar projects with an equivalent value as in the industrialised nations, which Indian firms seem to lack.

Indian firms’ uncompetitiveness in both management and performance requires more in-depth exploration.

First is a general lack of the ability to provide integrated services. Many overseas clients look for firms who can provide all services under one roof: engineering, construction, maintenance, management and even project financing.

Indian firms are used to the design-bid-build model and do not possess this full range of capabilities. “We do quite a few turnkey projects but there are not many companies in India which are involved in providing integral services to the RR www.iconreview.org

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THE RESEARCH Telephone interviews and questionnaire surveys were conducted with individuals from 14 Indian construction firms classified into two types: Type A, large firms with overseas experience; and Type B, large firms with no presence to date in the international market. Individual interviewees were chosen because they had been involved in international operations of an Indian firm.

Six telephone interviews were conducted and 22 participants responded to questionnaires to the desired level of satisfaction. All respondents comprised of professionals such as directors of infrastructure, project managers, middle managers, manager in strategic initiatives, manager in operations, contracts engineer, manager, or administrator.

The Indian firms working abroad are: ● Larsen & Toubro ● Punj Lloyd ● IRCON International Ltd. ● M/s. Afcons Infrastructure Ltd. ● Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd. ● Hindustan Construction Company ● Tata Projects ● Gammon India ● Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd. ● Aban Construction Pvt. Ltd. ● Essar Construction Ltd. They mostly do infrastructure projects in the Middle East, a handful of African nations, central Asian countries and a few South-east Asian countries. It is fair to say that these 11 Type A firms have all now had at least a flavour of international business while some have established themselves more solidly.

The remaining three Type B firms, DLF, Sobha Developers and Unitech, are large in India but have no presence in the international market.

RR clients,” one interviewee said. “Thus most of the Indian firms are players at the lower end of the market. We definitely have a competitive edge over them both in the domestic and the international market. This new trend would require substantial knowledge about the international business, efficient management systems and widespread distribution of resources.” Diversified procurement routes offer more possibilities, mitigate risks and maximize profits: understanding these new procurement models would develop Indian firms’ competitiveness.

FLIMSY NETWORKS, POOR COMMUNICATION Most of the respondents said that uncertainties in project variables created high levels of risk. The information that reaches them is always delayed, and insufficient coordination and ineffective communication among parties results in additional cost, delays and waste of resources. One respondent shifted some blame to clients: “Delays also occur because of the problems caused by clients and consultants. These problems are further aggravated with the problems caused by the incompetence of contractors. Slow decision making is also one of the major issues for delayed information arrival.”

Poor communications has dramatic effects. When the specifications in the contract have been interpreted incorrectly, it leads to a major rework for the firms. Some of the contracts are in the local languages for which the Indian www.iconreview.org

contractor has a local translator who works as the public relations officer for the company. There have been cases where the contract specifications were misunderstood, leading to losses.

Effective communication across physical distances, languages and cultures requires robust personal networks.

These complaints could indicate the need for greater and more sensitive investment in such networks.

TECHNOLOGY AND SOPHISTICATED MANAGEMENT Indian construction firms seem to lag behind in construction technology and to be unable to make world class products or render high value-added services in sufficient quantity. Thus, although a few of the Indian contractors already are operating internationally, a lack of backing from and collaboration with the Indian manufacturing sector constitutes a weakness in contractors’ performance overseas.

The Middle East was the first region Indian companies ventured into and for years now they have handled high-rise buildings and been exposed to cutting-edge techniques while joint-venturing with other firms. “The Middle East gives us very good exposure to latest equipment and technology,” said one interviewee. “They are not worried about cutting costs.” He said that while Indian sites restrict the use of tower cranes, in places like Dubai, home of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, cranes cover the city. “Technology used is 10 times more efficient,” he concluded.

One interviewee observed: “Most of the latest construction technology comes from Japan and Korea. China has adopted most of their technologies and has the skills of managing the workforce to a competitive level unbeaten by India.” Indian contractors are not well-equipped with latest construction technology and generally use outdated or low-capacity plant and equipment. Equipment types are very basic and not suitable for international projects.

Desirable overseas construction projects are usually large and complex. They require sophisticated management techniques and an understanding of the latest technologies, such as light-weight materials used in high-rise towers. Very few Indian companies have detailed or up-to-date expertise in these areas. One of the interviewees admitted: “Numerous innovative project management approaches or state-of-theart technologies are applied to make a project successful.

Companies should be open to using innovative business models, start procuring globally, and manage logistics with just-in-time approach.” He added: “Pre-fabrication has been adopted by most of the contractors from the developed and emerging economies, whereas it is still a relatively new concept for Indian firms.” Part of the blame for this, he said, fell on a lack of collaboration between the construction and manufacturing sectors. He called on government to promote more of such collaboration.

Most of the Type A firms are capable of doing highly complex projects whereas the Type B firms admitted that they lack the resources needed to grab such projects. Chinese companies may be more advanced in using prefabrication and just-in-time techniques, especially if one assumes that Changsha’s Broad Sustainable Buildings Company, whose Youtube video of a 30-storey hotel going up in 15 days in December 2011 has attracted over four million viewers so far, is somehow at the head of a curve of national capability.

“DUBAI IS VERY SMART IN ISSUING VISAS TO THE WORKERS”

LOW PENETRATION OF ICT Indian firms’ use of information and communications technology (ICT) is catching up only gradually with other international firms. The tools used mostly are Auto CAD and Microsoft Office (as shown in Figure 2). Setting aside the use 01 QUARTER 2012

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ABOVE: Unlike India, China backs many overseas projects with hefty state loans or outright grants. The new African Union HQ in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, completed January 2012, reportedly cost approximately US$200 million and was a gift from the Chinese government. It was constructed by China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) LEFT: Burj Khalifa under construction in Dubai. Indian firms say they learn most about new construction techniques while joint venturing with other international firms in the Middle East

of Building Information Modelling (BIM), which is rare across the board, the large Type B firms are still strangers to tools that have been around in other sectors for decades: exchanging drawings through a company intranet and saving them in a document management system; bar-coding; webconferencing; RFID tagging of materials; VOIP (voice over internet).

There seems to be a lack of awareness of the benefits of ICT. “Contractors might doubt for a good return of investment, thus conferring to the lowest usage of ICT as possible,” one interviewee said, adding that while a few Indian companies had a kind of head-office awareness of project software tools, their use was nowhere near as embedded in the everyday management of projects as was the case with overseas competitors. Moreover, most respondents said their company lacked an ICT management strategy, and that the use of ICT is driven by a given project, not by company policy.

KEYSTONEUSA-ZUMA/REX FEATURES

LABOUR AND MATERIAL RESTRICTION Indian firms may have low labour costs, but turning this to their advantage on the international market is difficult. Most hostcountry governments carefully guard their construction markets to promote jobs growth. The model of a company setting up camp in a foreign country with thousands of its own workers is provided amply by China but is restricted mostly to poor African or Asian countries and often depends on highlevel deals struck between the Chinese and host governments.

The larger developed economies are closed to this.

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One of the most open markets for international construction has been the Gulf states but even here the entry of workers is restricted. They stipulate percentages, such as 20% Bangladeshis, 30% Pakistanis and 50% Asians. Though the percentages vary from time to time, it is generally a mixture to prevent any one nationality dominating the local employment market. “Dubai is very smart in issuing visas to the workers,” said one interviewee. “It goes something like this: If workers of any one nationality applying for visas are more than 60%, then they are classified as class B and visa charges are doubled compared to those who have got less than 60%, and if the percentage goes beyond 70% then we fall under class C which triples the cost, thus we are made non-competitive. We move between class A and class B, but we don’t want to be in class C”.

Saudi Arabia has the strictest laws. It is not easy to import workers without a local JV sponsor, who will be granted some visas by the government based on their request. The number of skilled and unskilled workers is also allotted by a quota.

Thus, the dependence is again on local labour. Also, the Middle Eastern governments do not allow free mobility of workers from one country to the other. It is an issue in the initial days of entry into the country but once the Indian company has established themselves and done a few projects there, it gets easier. The challenge is to remain in the country and establish contacts and build resources. Moreover transportation charges can be quite high.

China leads the pack in being able to leverage its cheaplabour advantage, but it has put in the work, building contacts with host governments for decades, thus easing visa issuance for Chinese workers. Said one interviewee: “Chinese construction firms receive visas quite easily for their workers because China has adopted a ‘going global’ strategy since 1980 which encourages Chinese companies to invest abroad to guarantee access to advanced technology, foreign exchange, energy and raw materials and exports markets in Africa, for example. Flagship enterprises receive generous government support in preferential loans and credits through the Chinese Development Bank, the China Construction Bank and the Eximbank, as well as in tax deductions.”

Indian firms are further stymied in putting to use another major advantage – access to cheap materials and equipment produced in low-wage India. This is because many non-tariff barriers stop the export of India-made construction materials or equipment to developed nations on the pretext of environmental or technical standards.

CONCLUSION This research attempts to provide a snapshot of the competitiveness of Indian firms today. Though there are many opportunities for Indian firms to expand overseas, they are sometimes only allowed to bid for projects from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, bilateral or multilateral agencies and for donor specified projects. However it is quite unlikely that the picture will remain frozen for long. Indian firms have managed to turn globalisation to their advantage and dominate other key sectors including software, telephony services and steel production. It stands to reason therefore that it is only a matter of time before India storms the world stage in engineering and construction as well. icon Manjusree Modak holds a B.Arch from Nagpur University and has worked as an architect in India. This article is adapted from research into Indian construction firms’ international competitiveness conducted for her MSc in Construction Management from the University of Reading in 2011

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ANOTHER WAVE OF DEVELOPMENT?

HERE? You could be forgiven for thinking that there is little room to build anything else in Hong Kong. But you'd be wrong. Here Raymond Wong outlines how the planned “fourth wave� of infrastructure development, 10 major projects totalling US$60bn, will blast through rock, cut into mountains, and bridge the ocean in order to re-orient itself to the booming Mainland, open up more space for development and speed the flow of goods and people

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ong Kong has experienced three major waves of infrastructure development since WWII. During the 1950s and 1960s, development sought to recover what was damaged in the war and to fulfil the basic needs of the community. Major achievements during this period included the Lion Rock Tunnel linking the New Territories with Kowloon Peninsula, Shek Pik Reservoir and the satellite towns at Tsuen Wan and Kwun Tong.

The second wave spanned a period from the early 1970s to the mid 1980s. By this time Hong Kong had seen rapid development in light industry, international trade and finance, and a series of new towns, highway projects and port works were needed. The Sha Tin and Tuen Mun new towns, Lung Cheung Road and Tuen Mun Highway, West Kowloon Corridor and the Container Port in Kwai Chung were the projects of that period, and they reinforced the position of Hong Kong as a world-class economic powerhouse.

The third wave spanned the 1990s and was driven by the

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new Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) at Chek Lap Kok. This US$20-billion “teraproject” (to bump it up from megaproject status), completed in July 1998, spawned 10 further associated developments, done to bring Hong Kong's broader transport network up to speed. The Airport Platform, Airport Express, Tsing Ma Bridge, West Kowloon Reclamation and the West Harbour Crossing were some of these projects.

Railway projects were launched in response to the Railway Development Strategy approved in the mid-1990s. Other developments included the expansion of the container port which made Hong Kong the world's busiest port until Singapore edged ahead in 2005.

A casual observer might conclude that there is simply no room for anything else, but this would be a mistake. Hong Kong does not have the luxury of being allowed to stand still.

Stirred by the need to stay competitive in the Asian context and to integrate more closely with the galloping economies of China's southern mainland, a fourth wave of infrastructure

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development is gathering force.

Co-ordinated by the Development Bureau after a series of planning studies and consultations, 10 major new infrastructure projects were announced by Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang in his 2007 Policy Address. The new projects are grouped into three categories: internal transport, cross-boundary infrastructure between Hong Kong with Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta, and new lands for urban development.

These address Hong Kong’s three salient needs. First is to provide better mass transit for districts overlooked by the current network.

The second, to improve cross-border connections, has arisen because the social and economic links between Hong Kong and Mainland China have grown since the 1980s and reached a climax in the middle of the last decade. During this climax traffic by land and sea of passengers and cargo tested the capacity of all junctions and ports. This highlighted the potential, through collaboration among the governments, to RR

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RR ramp up the whole region's performance and competitiveness. The only concern now may be: are these projects a bit too late?

The third batch is to prepare new land for Hong Kong’s continued development. In previous decades Hong Kong resorted to repeated reclamations at Victoria Harbour and large-scale slope cutting and filling all over the territory.

Hectare by hectare Hong Kong has fought for room and finding new sites is getting more difficult by the year.

A total value of at least US$60 billion is a rough estimate for these projects based on current money value.

SLOW GATHERING MOMENTUM After Donald Tsang announced the development plan in 2007 and the tsunami of projects failed right away to rear up on the horizon some accused the government of making false claims.

But the apparent calm was deceptive. The global financial crisis of 2008 was certainly an overriding preoccupation for a time, but beyond that, these projects require very long lead times.

Individually, they are huge and require detailed planning and public consultation. That they are happening all at once and that most projects link up in some way with others complicates things even more. Planning and approvals for one project impact planning and approvals for another. And if that were not enough, the intra-regional projects require coordination and negotiation among different governments with different planning and legal systems and strategic drivers. The threeway mutual benefits of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge for example may be obvious in the grand scheme of things, but many details still need working out. Viewed as a whole, it’s a hugely complex process, with public consultations, feasibility and technical studies, initial planning, detailed design, land requisition, before you even get to the pre-contract stage. It’s hard to see how a programme of this scale would be even contemplated in any other part of the world.

But the wave is gathering momentum. As before a tsunami, one doesn’t always notice the water quietly receding. The first major contracts for the Express Rail were signed in early 2010.

Contract packages for the South Island Line projects were signed in mid 2011. Since 2008 dozens of minor contracts for feasibility studies and scheme design, advanced works, foundation and site preparation have been awarded in small packages.

In the coming two years it is expected that a large number of major contracts will be ready for execution. These include construction of the major components for the Hong KongZhuhai-Macau Bridge, the Sha Tin to Central Link, and the Tuen Mun Western Bypass and Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link.

Other advanced works for the remaining major projects will also be launched. Shown on a chart, the entire programme would span a period of at least 12 years with output and cash flow peaking from 2015 to 2018.

Overall the situation is very optimistic in terms of employment and economic growth. Besides the “fourth wave” there are quite a number of other major projects still under construction here, such as the Central-Wanchai Bypass, Wanchai Phase 2 Developments, West Island Line, other highway improvements, the airport's third runway, and tourism projects like the Disneyland and Ocean Park Phase 2 extensions. The combined value of these “minor” projects surpasses US$15 billion and should be completed before 2015.

Unemployment is close to zero. Most developers, contractors and consultants are extremely busy. The usual boom-time drawbacks apply: manpower and material prices are escalating and supply-chain overstretch can lead to project risk and poor quality. Generally, though, it’s a great time to be a Hong Kong construction professional. www.iconreview.org

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Foundation being laid for the bridge to carry South Island Line trains to stations on Ap Lei Chau island

1. SOUTH ISLAND LINE: Connecting downtown to the scenic southern coastline The South Island Line will link the built-up northern shore of Hong Kong Island to the more thinly populated southern shore, known as Southern District. In Hong Kong's master plan this district is designated as a mixed zone with medium population density supported by tourism, fuelled by beaches and by the Ocean Park leisure centre.

The new line is intended to enhance the flow of people and improve development prospects.

For some time the Southern District community has been calling for inclusion in the mass transit railway network. In 2005, the Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited started to prepare a proposal for the Executive Council to review. The proposal was approved and followed with the detailed engineering design and tender preparation. The scheme was gazetted under the Railways Ordinance in July 2009, which signified the start of the project. The South Island Line will be commissioned no later than 2015.

Construction of this 7-km rail line started in mid 2011. Total construction cost is estimated to be US$1.2 billion. The line consists of five stations: Admiralty, Ocean Park, Wong Chuk Hang, Lei Tung and South Horizons Stations.

The South Island Line (East) will be a medium capacity railway comprising underground and viaduct sections. It is a medium capacity system with three-car trains that requires shorter platforms and smaller stations, while maintaining a similar train frequency to other MTR lines which generally use eight-car trains.

The railway will be built mainly underground except for the section between the Aberdeen Tunnel toll plaza and Ap Lei Chau Island which will be on an elevated viaduct. The other more challenging construction features for this project can be highlighted as follow:

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The busy, above-ground environment at Causeway Bay where the Sha Tin to Central Link tunnel will cross the harbour

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The construction of the new Admiralty Station.

This is an underground station about 30m below ground surface to be constructed near the existing Admiralty Station of the Island Line. It is also the interchanging station for the future Sha Tin to Central Link.

From the Admiralty Station going southward is a 3.5-km tunnel construct using drill-andblast method crossing the underside of the Mount Cameron and Aberdeen Country Park, with the Aberdeen Reservoirs not far away from the tunnel alignment.

The stations at Lei Tung and South Horizons will be constructed by cutting into rock forming a cavern structure.

Construction of a 150m-span bridge crossing the Ap Lei Chau Channel.

Because space is so limited, the aboveground stations at Ocean Park and Wong Chuk Hang and the viaduct link tracks will run along an existing storm water discharge nullah, which makes construction more difficult.

A 150m-span bridge will be constructed crossing the Ap Lei Chau Channel that links Ap Lei Chau Island with Aberdeen.

2. THE SHA TIN TO CENTRAL LINK: Connecting central New Territories with Hong Kong Island The Sha Tin to Central Link (SCL) is one of the strategic railway lines recommended in the Railway Development Strategy 2000. In March 2008, the Executive Council approved the onward planning and design of the SCL using a concession approach under which the project will be funded by the Government and the Mass Transit Railway Corporation is entrusted with planning and design.

The line is about 17 km in length and will

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3 View from the foothill of Castle Peak mountain through which the Tuen Mun Western Bypass will cut on its way to the border

connect central New Territories and Hong Kong Island via East Kowloon. There are 10 stations serving the line, namely the Tai Wai, Hin Keng, Diamond Hill, Kai Tak, To Kwa Wan, Ma Tau Wai, Ho Man Tin, Hung Hom, Exhibition and Admiralty.

Within which, Tai Wai Station will be interconnected to the East Rail, Diameter Hill Station connects to the Kwun Tong Line, Kai Tai Station connects to the local rail network of the South-East Kowloon Development, Hung Hom Station connects to the East West Rail Corridor, and Admiralty connects to the future West and South Island Lines.

Since there is no open space in running the alignment, all the tracks will be constructed underground using different tunnelling methods. The new 1.5-km cross-harbour tunnel is the most challenging as it is located on the busiest traffic route on both sides of the harbour. The existing Cross Harbour Tunnel lies just 100 m to the side of the new tunnel. The new tunnel approaches will require massive temporary provisions and traffic diversion as it is an extremely congested environment.

Construction is scheduled to start in late 2012 and proceed in two stages. The line from Sha Tin to Hung Hom will come into operation in 2018 and the harbour crossing to Admiralty will be finished in 2020.

3. TUEN MUN WESTERN BYPASS: Speed north from the airport to the boundary When the new airport was built in 1998 the roads could handle traffic into central Hong Kong. But with the economic explosion in the Pearl River Delta and greater links with the Mainland, the flow of people and goods from the airport into the centre and back out to the region is putting a big strain on infrastructure.

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wide approach tunnel and 121-m wide track fan tunnel at West Kowloon. The lucky JV followed that in October 2011 with a billion-plus-dollar contract to construct the West Kowloon Terminus Station North. Laing O'Rourke, Dragages, Bouygues and Bachy Soletanche are some of the other big engineering firms winning contracts on the XRL.

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5. HONG KONG-ZHUHAIMACAO BRIDGE: A short drive to Macau?

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The construction site of the Express Rail Terminus at West Kowloon in early 2011

On the Hong Kong side, a long bridge skirting the southern edge of Chek Lap Kok island means the six-lane highway doesn't touch land until it reaches the Hong Kong Border Control Facility (BCF) to be constructed on an artificial island

saturated after 2016 due to rapid developments in the Northwest New Territories (NWNT) and North Lantau, according to the studies of the Traffic and Infrastructure Review conducted by the Transport Department. The new Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in 2018 will lead to even more in-and-out traffic. This makes a direct connection between North Lantau across the water to the NWNT an obvious way forward.

The proposed under-sea dual carriageway proceeds from Tung Chung on the north shore of Lantau Island to the new border control facility (BCF) on an artificial island on the eastern tip of Chek Lap Kok and crosses 9 km under the channel to the shore at the western approaches to Castle Peak Bay. Travelling north, it skirts the developed area of Tuen Mun, cutting through an almost undeveloped strip of land at the foot of Castle Peak, to link up with the Western Corridor highway leading to the Shenzhen Bay Bridge and onto the Mainland at Shekou. Shenzhen International Airport is then only a 20-km drive away.

The government is currently doing an environmental impact assessment, site investigation and preliminary design for the project.

Upon completion of these and public consultations the overall design will be submitted to the Legislative Council for approval.

Construction is expected to start in early 2014 and to be completed before 2019.

straight over the border to Futian, Shenzhen in 14 minutes and will cut in half the train times from Hong Kong to the Pearl Delta hub of Guangzhou (48 minutes instead of 100 minutes as it is now, according to MTR Corporation).

In January 2010 the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council approved the funding application for the 26-km Hong Kong section of the XRL and the first contracts were awarded soon after. Completion is targeted for 2015.

The terminus at West Kowloon will be an underground structure with 15 platforms and immigration facilities. Since it is situated in the future landmarked Business Center and Cultural District, it will connect to Kowloon Station (thereby to the airport), the West Kowloon Cultural District and the harbour-front promenade by footbridges and subways.

XRL presents many construction challenges in highly developed Hong Kong. The terminus occupies 11 hectares.

One hundred metres either side are the tracks for the Airport Express Line and the Kowloon Southern Link. From the station the tracks go underground to avoid 8km of built-up city space. After that it cuts under rocky hills until it reaches the environmentally sensitive lowlands at Yuen Long before crossing the border 3 km further northwestward.

To facilitate the forming of the tunnels, two major service shafts are formed one at Sham Shui Po and one at Yuen Long District. The shaft at Sham Shui Po measured 120m x 40m x 40m for the assembling and launching of two sets of tunnel boring machines. The shaft at Yuen Long also serves as an approach ramp for trains emerging to ground level where the service depot for the line is located.

In August 2010 MTR Corporation awarded a US$360-million contract to a JV between Leighton Asia and Gammon Construction to build a 31-m-

4. GUANGZHOU EXPRESS RAIL LINK: Next stop... Shenzhen The Hong Kong section of the new GuangzhouShenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) is designed to plug Hong Kong into China's highspeed rail network. Travelling at 200km/h, it will whisk passengers from downtown at West Kowloon

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Its scale and ambition make this the “special attraction” of the fourth wave. At the moment the only practical way of getting from Hong Kong to Macau is by ferry, which takes an hour or more, depending on the weather and, like all intermodal transportation, can be a bit of a hassle. So when the authorities began thinking of how to bring Hong Kong, Macau and the western flank of the Pearl River Delta closer to speed up the flow of people, goods and services, minds naturally turned to bridges disappearing into the horizon over deep blue sea. After all, the precedent was already established in China with transoceanic record setters like Donghai Bridge (32.5km, completed 2005) and Hangzhou Bay Bridge (35.6km, completed 2007) and Jiaozhou Bay Bridge (42.5km, complete 2011).

The plan for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) sees a dual three-lane carriageway crossing the Pearl River Estuary from Chek Lap Kok (where the airport is) to Macau, branching north from there to the city of Zhuhai. From the Hong Kong side it starts at a new artificial island built on the eastern tip of Chek Lap Kok island to house the new Border Control Facility (BCF). It proceeds as an above-water causeway along the

“THE EXPRESS RAIL LINK PRESENTS MANY CHALLENGES IN DEVELOPED HONG KONG” underside of the island until it reaches open water.

Then it becomes a tunnel, diving under the busy shipping channels of the estuary for around 7 km.

Then it surfaces and becomes a bridge again until Macau. Total cost estimates have varied between US$8-to-US$11 billion.

In a country where big things happen fast, the HZMB has been some time in coming. In January 2003, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Government of Hong Kong commissioned the Institute of Comprehensive Transportation to study the idea of a land transport link between Hong Kong and the western bank of Pearl River. The study confirmed the strategic significance of such a link. The governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao formed an Advance Work Coordination Group (AWCG) to start preparations.

In 2004, the AWCG commissioned the China Highway Planning and Design Institute to conduct a feasibility study on navigation clearance,

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hydrology, environment, traffic, economic benefits and financial viability. Following that an HZMB Task Force was formed in 2007 to push the project forward. Among other things the Task Force recommended that the boundary crossing facilities (BCFs) of each government be set up within their own territories.

March 2009 saw the contract for preliminary design awarded to a consortium comprising COWI A/S, Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd, Shanghai Tunnel Engineering & Rail Transit Design and Research Institute and CCCC First Harbour Consultants Co Ltd. Groundbreaking took place in February 2010 but construction was halted after an elderly woman living in Tung Chung near the Hong Kong set-down point of the causeway claimed that the environmental assessment had been insufficient.

That sparked a judicial review. In September 2011 the Hong Kong government won its appeal, clearing the way for work to resume, but contractors will now have to rush to meet a completion target set earlier at 2016.

Authorities hope Hong Kong will benefit from the so-called 'economic hinterland' provided by the Pearl River Delta, boost tourism and enhance Hong Kong’s position as a trade and logistics hub.

6. HK-SHENZHEN AIRPORT LINK: Two big airports working as one Hong Kong and Shenzhen airports are two major hubs in the Pearl River Delta region, but while Hong Kong ranks among the busiest international cargo and passenger ports in the world, Shenzhen specialises in domestic flights, connecting most Mainland cities. Clearly the two could complement each other if they were linked by a more efficient transportation connection. A highspeed rail link has already been mooted.

At present, only ferry and bus services are provided between the two airports. They have started coordinating check-in and passport control to streamline the transfer but the journey still takes an hour or more, which can be irksome to travellers especially considering the two airports are only about 50 km apart. Both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen municipal governments, and the airports themselves, have come out strongly in support of a transport link and have formed a joint task force to study the situation.

Initial findings support the feasibility of land acquisition and transport integration but the actual route is a major question. The situation is a bit easier on the Mainland side because space is more plentiful. On the Hong Kong side, using part of the route proposed for the Tuen Mun Western Bypass is a likely option, although before it reached the environmentally sensitive Yuen Long Plain it could go underground and tunnel under Shenzhen Bay. Where, and whether, to set up a border control facility is a major consideration. This is what the joint task force is studying at the moment. Not

7 Lok Ma Chau now, with built-up Shenzhen across the river

A masterplan produced for the West Kowloon Cultural District by Foster + Partners

surprisingly, then, given the other, similar projects underway, we're unlikely to have a proposal from the task force before 2014.

higher education and cultural and creative industries. But it would be a complex undertaking due to boundary and jurisdictional issues, environmental concerns and the current lack of services. For now, it is a space to watch.

7. LOK MA CHAU LOOP: Eyes turn to no-man's land The old border between Hong Kong territory and Mainland China was the Shenzhen River and, as rivers do, it had bends. When the river was straightened it left a patch of wetland known as the Lok Ma Chau Loop, which remained undeveloped.

It is part of a broader swathe of land near the Hong Kong-China border categorized as restricted, and lacks sewerage, power and transport service nodes.

“AIRLINE PILOTS BREATHED A SIGH OF RELIEF WHEN THE AIRPORT FINALLY MOVED”

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Not surprisingly, though, with both Hong Kong and Shenzhen perpetually bursting at the seams, “the Loop” has become the focus of intense development interest in recent years.

During the early 2000s, a Shenzhen river regulation project was undertaken and the Loop, 90 hectares in area, was identified as having potential. In 2008, the Hong Kong and Shenzhen governments established the Joint Task Force on Hong Kong-Shenzhen Border Area Development to consider a joint development scheme. In May 2009, the Planning Department in association with Civil Engineering and Development Department commissioned Ove Arup and Partners Hong Kong to undertake a planning and engineering study.

The Loop Study commenced on 1 June 2009 and is anticipated for completion by 2013.

The main idea so far has been to make the loop an environmentally low-impact development catering to research and development, high-tech,

8. WEST KOWLOON CULTURAL DISTRICT: Prime space for the arts The West Kowloon reclamation was one of the Airport Core Projects during the 1990s. There are a few major developments already on this patch of reclaimed land, including approaches to the Western Harbour Crossing and Kowloon Station, but about 30 hectares remain vacant.

As far back as 1998 Hong Kong's chief executive proposed the establishment of a cultural district to make Hong Kong a cultural hub for Asia.

An international design competition was organized in early 2001 hoping to generate a workable scheme. A series of public consultations were conducted. But the scheme gathered dust for a number of reasons including differences over design and, latterly, the positioning of the new Guangzhou-Shenzhen XRL station close by.

But the idea didn't go away. In 2006 the government established the Consultative Committee on the Core Arts and Cultural Facilities of the West Kowloon Cultural District to reexamine the need for the cultural hub and the financial implications. After consultation with the local arts community and related parties, the committee recommended a bold plan: 15 performing arts venues, a cultural institution and museum of 20th and 21st century visual culture, and an exhibition centre. The vibe would be lowdensity with ample open space allowing the public to enjoy the harbourfront. Three hectares of open piazza were proposed.

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An artist's impression of how the South East Kowloon District might look

North Fanling now, a semi-rural environment. View looks north to the restricted zone near the Mainland border. Planners see this 500-hectare stretch of land, one of three proposed new development areas in the Northeast New Territories, as having big potential

body, the WKCD Authority, to take forward the project. The WKCD Authority Ordinance was enacted. The Legislative Council also approved an upfront endowment of HK$21.6 billion (US$2.78 billion on current conversion rates) for the WKCD Authority to develop the WKCD project.

The Authority will submit the final Development Plan to the Town Planning Board this year. At the same time design competitions for a number of signature facilities are being prepared.

Construction works will begin after the statutory planning process is completed which is expected to started in stages in 2013.

attraction of the fourth wave, the South East Kowloon Development, as it is known, is the main act. This huge and highly complex mixed-use development has multiple goals: to bring the harbour to the people, to provide quality living environment for around 86,000 residents, and to revitalize surrounding, aged districts with public amenities and environmental upgrading.

Plans include an international-standard multipurpose stadium complex, currently lacking in the territory. On the old runway will be mid-rise living, shopping, hotels and a park. Instead of planes, the runway will now attract cruise ships. A terminal is under construction on the southern tip of the runway and when ready for operation in mid 2014 it will berth two, 360-metre-long vessels bringing an estimated half a million tourists annually. On the northern tip adjacent to the built-up districts, public housing estates are under construction with a target to accommodate 50,000 inhabitants. A hospital is planned for a 7-ha site on the southern shore to help the upgrade of the surrounding areas. Other infrastructure works including roads, drainage and environmental upgrading are in progress.

The Outline Development Plan sets out three milestone implementation years: 2013, 2016 and 2021. Essential infrastructures will be implemented by the Civil Engineering and Development Department whilst individual site development will be implemented by other parties accordingly.

9. KAI TAK DEVELOPMENT PLAN: Old runway ready for takeoff Airline pilots around the world breathed a sigh of relief when Hong Kong's airport finally moved in 1998 from its downtown location at Kai Tak to Chek Lap Kok. Pilots had to keep a steady hand as they dodged skyscrapers and mountains to effect an invariably dramatic landing with nothing but Victoria Harbour at the end of the runway.

Meanwhile, the old airport site is still vacant.

With more than 280 hectares of prime metro land vacant in a central, symbolically important part of town, strong and competing interest groups have clustered around the scheme and the planning and approvals process has taken time.

A feasibility study was completed in 1998 followed by a revised scheme in 2001 based on public concerns. The Government in 2004 further commissioned the Kai Tak Planning Review to carry out an extensive 3-stage public participation programme and arrived at a Preliminary Outline Development Plan with improved environmental standards including a “Zero Reclamation” policy for Victoria Harbour. The proposal was approved by the Chief Executive in 2007.

If the bridge to Macau and Zhuhai is the special

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10. NEW DEVELOPMENT AREAS: Focus on calm and quality in the rural northeast The idea of building new communities in the North East New Territories near the border with Shenzhen was first floated in 1998, and then was shelved in 2003 when slower population growth dampened housing demand. This was a difficult

time for Hong Kong with the Asian financial crisis erupting in 1997, plus the H5N1 avian influenza (bird flue) epidemic the same year, followed by the SARS epidemic in 2003.

By 2007, however, the mood was more confident and the proposal for three New Development Areas (NDAs) featured in the chief executive's policy address as one of the 10 major infrastructure projects. The three areas under consideration are 1) Kwu Tung North, 2) Fanling North and 3) Ping Che/Ta Kwu Ling. Together they comprise approximately 800 hectares.

To get things moving, Hong Kong's Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) and the Planning Department commissioned a Planning and Engineering Study in 2008. This will formulate a development plan taking into consideration the latest planning constraints, community aspirations and other development needs. It's expected to be complete by 2013.

In the meantime, a flavour of the new towns may be discernible from a newsletter issued by the CEDD during the public engagement period after the study was commissioned, and it's very different from the crowded, hectic urban setting of the metro area. The stated themes emphasise medium- to low-density development, nature, retention of historic buildings, open spaces, views, a train station you can walk to, and a mix of businesses providing a mix of jobs.

It may sound like an oasis of calm and quiet, but the foundations for the communities won't come cheap. CEDD's cost estimate, now a few years old, for building the infrastructure, including sewerage, roads and a new train station, was just over US$2.5 billion. ● Raymond Wong MCIOB, is a lecturer in the Division of Building Science and Technology, City University of Hong Kong. His research includes construction and civil technology, conservation of historic buildings and urbanisation in China and around the world

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RETURN TO SPLENDOUR In 2001 the glory of Transylvania's Banffy Castle was more than just faded.

The structure was on the cusp of utter disintegration. Since then it has become the centre of a unique experiment in both restoration and craft skills instruction. Here, project director David Baxter describes how the castle's slide into ruination was reversed, and how a new generation of architects, engineers and craftspeople are discovering how to revive the past

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ocated in the small village of Bontida, 30km north of the city of Cluj-Napoca in Romania, Banffy Castle represents one of the last great strongholds of Transylvanian aristocracy. Embracing mainly Renaissance and Baroque architecture, combined with 19th Century Neo-Gothic alterations, the castle is of extreme historic value. But after the depredations of retreating German troops in WWII, haphazard and typically brutal interventions during Romania's Soviet era, plus long years of neglect and pilfering, the structure was in imminent danger of disappearing into the cracks of history.

Understandably, after a deeply troubled latter half of the 20th Century, Romania and other countries in southeastern Europe found it difficult to prioritise the preservation of historic buildings. The usual tangle of issues – what to do, how to do it, how to pay for it, and who is responsible – could not be unpicked.

But in 2001 an international solution emerged that was as elegant as the architectural forms of the castle now resuming their shape.

BACKGROUND There has been a presence on this site and a connection with the Banffy family since the 12th century. The present form of the castle comprises two main courtyards, one from the Renaissance period which has a rectangular form with four corner bastions, and one from the Baroque period, in a horseshoe form which housed the spectacular stables and riding school. The latter was constructed by Banffy Denes in the 1740s. He served as Head of Horse to the court of Maria Theresa, the Hapsburg Empress Consort of the Holy Roman Empire in Vienna, and when he returned to Bontida he introduced the splendour of Viennese architecture to Banffy Castle. This, in combination with the splendid Baroque parkland earned the castle the title of “The Transylvanian Versailles”. The parkland was subsequently changed to an English parkland from the 1830s onwards.

The Banffy family occupied the property until WWII. The owner then was Banffy Miklos, a prominent novelist, theatre

director, politician and diplomat. However the castle was severely damaged by fire started in revenge by retreating German troops in October 1944. Subsequent destruction ensued, and between 1944 and 1989 it was variously used for housing animals, agricultural machinery, as a pub and, effectively, as a squat. Strangely, in the 1960s the then Romanian culture ministry re-roofed the buildings and undertook some repairs, mainly using cement, which caused major structural problems we are still addressing today.

During the Communist era conservation was not a priority and many traditional skills were lost. In 1977 Romania's Historic Buildings Commission was disbanded, leaving the country with no leadership whatsoever in historic building restoration. By 1989, when Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu was executed, the built heritage of Romania was in a bad state. But things would only get worse in the 1990s because public finances were directed toward major social programmes, and the condition of the Castle deteriorated sharply. The building was “inherited” by the new Ministry of Culture but responsibility for maintenance passed to the cash-strapped local council of Bontida. No money meant no maintenance and the castle became a convenient source of building materials for local “projects”.

INTERVENTION The rescue effort emerged almost by accident from the confluence of several interest groups spreading their wings in the late 1990s. In Romania, the Transylvania Trust was formed in 1996 by professionals concerned to protect the RR

LEFT: The Miklos Building, restored 2003-04, now the centre’s headquarters with lecture rooms, offices and accommodation.

TOP: The castle complex in the early 1990s, mainly roofless. The devastation of the former parkland can be clearly seen.

RIGHT: Student carpentry workshop in 2011, making roof trusses, joists and wall-plates for the main building. Students are from Romania, France, Ireland, Serbia, Kosovo, BosniaHerzegovina and Russia.

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RR historic environment and influence the perception of its value to Romanian society. In the UK the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) had been formed from the Association of Conservation Officers. The goals and objectives of the Transylvania Trust and the IHBC were very similar.

Subsequently the Ministry of Culture for Romania and the British Council in Bucharest invited the two organisations to collaborate to address the problems of the heritage skills shortage in Romania, and the continued loss of its built heritage. This was the beginning of the relationship.

Right away our two organisations decided the project would be practical, not academic. There were too many projects offering lectures on how to restore historic buildings.

We wanted participants to learn as they worked under the guidance of master craftsmen. Our goal was clear: teach through restoring, restore through teaching. But how?

Initially the project took architects, structural engineers, building company owners, and craftsmen from Romania to the UK to job shadow conservation officers and to witness restoration projects in 1999. In 2000 a practical restoration project was undertaken at the Bethlan Gabor College in Aiud, Romania. Then in 2001 the project moved to Banffy Castle and the shape of the project as it is today emerged: an International Built Heritage Conservation Training Centre (normally shortened to BHCT). The idea is simple: students pay to come and learn how to use traditional craft skills to restore ancient buildings, and the castle itself serves as classroom and laboratory.

The choice of Banffy Castle was simple as well. Its deterioration was so severe we felt that if a successful restoration could be achieved here, it could be achieved anywhere in Romania. The buildings were also internationally known because of the prominence of the Banffy family, and this in turn would give the project an international platform.

By 2001 the Ministry of Culture was also investing in the castle and had inserted a new roof to the main residential building, but to standards dictated by the Romanian Building Regulations which involved the extensive use of concrete and carpentry unrelated to traditional techniques. So there were two halves to the site: the Ministry half and the BHCT half, where techniques and philosophy differed significantly.

Attitudes towards the value of the built heritage are changing, but slowly. The country has a number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and many more sites of high historic value which are deteriorating. This, coupled with a lack of academic training (there are only two postgraduate courses on conservation and very few architectural courses incorporate heritage), and a desperate lack of skilled craftsmen means that the heritage of the country is in danger.

Fortunately the present Ministry of Culture is more accepting towards restoration than previous administrations.

FIRST STEPS It was against this background that the Transylvania Trust and the IHBC launched the first training courses at Banffy Castle in 2001. The former kitchen building and its attached bastion were chosen for the first tentative steps in restoration. At the time this building was the most vulnerable and was likely to collapse at any time. As such it also presented the biggest challenge. It became the workshop for a number of courses between June and September of that year. The principle skills taught were masonry consolidation and rendering, carpentry and stonemasonry.

Initially the project targeted craftsmen working in the building industry. One of the main principles is “compatibility of materials and techniques”, and the basic material used www.iconreview.org

“IT IS DEVASTATING TO WATCH ONE PART OF A BUILDING COLLAPSE WHILE YOU ARE BUSY RESTORING ANOTHER”

here is lime. Cement is banned. But we found that the craftsmen were going straight back to cement in their day jobs because that's what got specified. That taught us that we had to bring in undergraduate architects and structural engineers to embed this and other principles higher up the specification chain.

In 2001 there was no accommodation at the castle. The solution was to convert the classrooms of the local school into dormitory accommodation, and in return to provide the school with toilet and shower facilities which they could use after the summer courses were finished.

Teaching was done by British and Romanian craftsmen.

The aim was eventually to train our own Romanian craftsmen to enable them to teach on their own. This has been achieved and we are in the happy position of having our own skilled team. Guest craftsmen from abroad are invited for specialist workshops.

By the end of September 2001, the bastion and half of the kitchen building were restored. Walls had been consolidated, roofs reinstated (including a beautiful conical roof to the bastion), floors reinstated, and external mouldings and 01 QUARTER 2012

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TOP LEFT: Mouldings are built up with layers of nonhydraulic lime render profiled with a traditional wooden “horse” (chablon).

MAIN PICTURE: Students restoring the brick vaulted ceiling in the stables. The vault rib in the foreground is built first, followed by the vault, using traditional timber formwork.

TOP RIGHT: The vault roof of the stables rebuilt in 2007 after a masonry collapse.

LOWER RIGHT: The stables in 2004. Concrete beams inserted above the rib vaults contributed to their collapse.

FAR LEFT: Rebuilding a cross-wall in the stables using stone, bricks, and lime mortar. When the wall is repaired the concrete beam visible above, inserted in the 1960s, can be removed.

LEFT: The Art Café open for business.

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finishes completed using lime and lime wash. Approximately 70 students attended the summer courses. The project succeeded in its first major task. In doing so it had also clarified two additional major principles. First was the imperative to use local materials, in this case lime, bricks from a local brick factory, and timber. Second, we would engage the local workforce. The site had in fact become a training establishment and a building site at the same time.

By November 2001 an art café was opened in the ground floor of the bastion as a tourist attraction. It was undertaken as a joint venture between the Transylvania Trust and the Local Council of Bontida. This arrangement was important as it fostered close involvement with the local authority.

The initial funding for this first phase was provided by the European Union and by the Headley Trust from the UK. The project does not have a corporate sponsor or long term sponsorship. Consequently the Transylvania Trust prepares applications for funding every year to a variety of sources. This makes long-term planning very difficult.

The strategic plan for the castle is simple: restore it and ensure full rehabilitation. Rehabilitation means not just structural integrity and aesthetic restoration. It means making all the buildings useful and beneficial to the community. What we do next is entirely dictated by need, and the need is so acute that the process sometimes resembles the triage station of a busy hospital. It is devastating to watch one part of a building collapse while you are busy restoring another!

Since 2001 the Transylvania Trust has succeeded in securing external funding not just from the EU and the Headley Trust, but also from the Romanian Ministry of Culture, Hungary's National Office of Cultural Heritage, the National Cultural Funds of both Hungary and Romania, the World Monuments Fund, the Getty Grant Programme and the Local Council of Bontida. It has also enjoyed the support of His

Royal Highness The Prince of Wales who visited the castle in 2002 and continues to be kept informed of progress.

SOME RESTORATION CHALLENGES Since 2001 restoration has slowly moved through the site according to need. ● The greatest challenge so far has been the restoration of the Miklos Building, named after the former owner, Banffy Miklos, famous novelist and one-time foreign minister for Hungary, who was caught behind the Iron Curtain in 1944 trying to protect his property. By the time we arrived the roof of this three-storey building had fallen in, causing the collapse of all floors down into the basement and the collapse of the rear wall. Through the summer of 2003 and 2004, this building provided the venue for our teaching workshops. ●

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Its restoration included the rebuilding of the rear wall, formerly part of the curtain wall fortress defence of the 17th Century castle, which was 1.6m deep and 11m high.

It was rebuilt using stone and brick, as found in other parts of the castle, and using only non-hydraulic lime as a mortar. It also incorporated the construction of a full baroque roof to original detail using traditional carpentry techniques. By 2005 the restoration was complete, and the building provides lecture rooms, project rooms, student accommodation and is the headquarters of the BHCT Centre. It was opened in the summer of 2005 by Her Royal Highness Princess Margarita of Romania, who is the patron of the centre, the Deputy Prime Minister of Romania, and the EU Ambassador to Romania.

The former stables had been very badly restored in the 1960s using concrete beams and cement mortar. RR

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The community enjoying a performance in the Renaissance Courtyard during the Castle Cultural Days in August 2011.

The building behind is the former kitchen block restored between 2001 and 2003. It now houses the Art Café, student kitchen, dining facilities and accommodation

Subsequent loss of the roof weakened the concrete and resulted in the collapse of the brick vaulted ceilings in 2003/4. The wreckage provided an ideal opportunity to teach repair, restoration and rebuilding of brick vaulted ceilings as one of our specialities. This is one of the most popular elements of the course and is essential for the restoration of many historic buildings in Transylvania constructed using this brick vaulting system.

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The main residential building in the castle complex was reroofed in 2001 but the interior has not yet been restored. It will provide complex challenges involving the restoration of brick vaulted ceilings, masonry structure, special plaster finishes, including stucco work and also the restoration of fresco and wall paintings. A new course was introduced in 2011 to deal with the surface finishes and will be continued in the summer of 2012.

The Gothic wing to the castle is the only part not yet protected with a roof covering. This will be tackled in the coming summer. It will provide unparalleled opportunity for carpentry students to create a traditional roof to modern standards. Its stone finials will be the subject of stone masonry restoration and carving. The centre has pioneered innovative stone repair techniques using nonhydraulic lime without resin or cement additives.

STUDENTS AND TEACHING So far over 1,200 students from 22 different countries have attended the courses: undergraduate and postgraduate students of architecture and structural engineering, craftsmen from within the building industry, building historians, people from heritage institutes and museums, and volunteers interested in helping to restore the castle.

They are taught through simultaneous translation in three languages, Romanian, Hungarian and English. In the coming summer this will be extended to include French. Courses last two weeks and full accommodation and catering is included.

The first two days comprise lectures on the philosophy and practice of conservation delivered by local and international specialists, and then students spend the rest of the course on site restoring the buildings under the guidance of the centre’s master craftsmen.

Many of the architectural students have said that the experience has totally changed their understanding of how buildings actually work. To physically work on a building, to understand it, to dismantle it, and then to repair it is akin to being a conservation doctor. It changes the solutions they specify for repair. Many tell us that having seen for themselves why cement is bad in historic building restoration, they will never specify it again. One student, from the Republic of Moldova, was so moved that she invited us to the capital, Chisinau, to present our project to other architectural students, practicing architects, the mayors office and local politicians. It was very successful.

A note on our craftsmen: Fortunately the skills base in Romania was not completely destroyed but the trick has been finding not just skilled craftsmen, but skilled craftsmen who can teach. To foster this, all our craftsmen go through the BHCT course. They have their disciplines but our philosophy is always to improve so we help them broaden their expertise by inviting guest trainers from other countries. Four of our trainers are currently studying fresco and stucco restoration through a partnership with Ecole D'Avignon in France.

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“WE HAD TO BRING IN ARCHITECTS AND STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS TO EMBED THE PRINCIPLES HIGHER UP THE SPECIFICATION CHAIN” camaraderie. It's incredible to witness this among students from different countries, some of which were at war in the not so distant past. (In its own way the castle has helped build civil society in a region that has suffered terribly from war in very recent times.) Also the course structure sets goals: to complete a vault, or the restoration of a facade, or of a roof structure.

When they see they can actually achieve this their enthusiasm and determination drowns out their aches and pains. At the end of each module – rendering, carpentry, stonemasonry, for example – they present their work to the other students with pride. Many return with families to point and say "I did that!"

In recent years the Transylvania Trust has teamed with partners from across the region and through joint projects the philosophy of the BHCT Centre has spread to Kosovo, Albania, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. New training centres in Kosovo and Albania are being developed on the BHCT model, and heritage information centres are being opened in Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and BosniaHerzegovina in partnership with the Transylvania Trust.

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES In 2007 the castle was given back to the Banffy family. The Transylvania Trust maintains a 49-year concession, however, and has taken responsibility for its maintenance. There is a very close relationship with the Banffy family and complete agreement on how the castle is being developed. A hall and chapel have been provided for the community, with workshops for local crafts. The castle now hosts the Transylvanian International Film Festival which last year attracted 1,200 people, and is home to the annual castle cultural days which in 2011 attracted 10,000 people. In 2008, for its work at Banffy Castle, the Transylvania Trust won the EU's Europa Nostra Cultural Heritage main prize for Education, Training and Awareness Raising.

We've come a long way since 2001 but there is still much to be done. It is estimated that a further seven million euros will be needed to finish the work. But the real goal is to continue teaching and to get the castle fully weather protected. This challenge will ensure its continued role as a teaching project for many years to come. icon David Baxter is director of the BHCT Centre at Banffy Castle and European Projects Director for the IHBC. Details on the 2012 summer programme are available at: www.heritagetraining-banffycastle.org

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