The Housing Authority (HA) said on Tuesday that individual concrete test samples from Block 2 of a public housing project in Tung Chung had failed to meet contractual requirements, the latest issue to affect the estate.

The authority had previously said that components in Blocks 3, 4 and 5 of the same project in Area 42 required further review and testing.

In response to media queries, the HA said it had immediately instructed the contractor to suspend concrete pouring at relevant locations and to extract concrete cores from the relevant structural components on site for compressive strength testing by an accredited independent laboratory.

Test results are being received progressively. So far, the first batch of 12 concrete core strength test results – about 17 percent of the total – has been obtained.

The samples were evenly distributed across the fifth-floor area of Block 5 where the problem was identified.

All tested samples had strengths 23 to 66 percent above the standard and complied with design and contractual requirements, the HA said.

The HA's engineering team said it will instruct the contractor on whether the concrete strength of the relevant structural components needs to be reviewed once all test results are received.

If a review is required, the contractor must submit a remedial proposal to the HA for approval before concrete pouring can resume.

Full concrete core compressive strength test results are expected on September 25.

The HA currently expects that the incident will have a minor impact on the project's overall progress.


Edited by Aaron Tam