Brief Bio

Ir Wallace SM TAM is currently a senior civil engineer of the North Development Office of the Civil Engineering and Development Department. He has also been the Secretary of the Standing Committee on Concrete Technology of the Development Bureau. He joined the Public Works Central Laboratory (PWCL) in 2019 focusing on testing of construction materials, and research and development related to concrete technology in the PWCL. In 2019, he completed the study on the feasibility of mitigating ASR effect in concrete made with aggregates from local volcanic rocks. In 2020, he conducted a study under the auspice of SCCT on concreting in hot weather due to climate change. Since 2025, he has been involved in the design and construction of development of Fanling North New Development Area, Remaining Phase.

Abstract

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) has been used for bridge construction in the Mainland.  Overseas studies have shown that UHPC not only exhibits ultra-high compressive and tensile strength compared to normal concrete, but also has a significant high level of durability due to its discontinuous pore structure reducing liquid ingress.  Given its successful application in infrastructure works worldwide as well as the Mainland, the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) and the Highways Department jointly established an UHPC Task Force in early 2025 to steer UHPC application through pilot projects, provide technical advice, and recommend the way forward for wider application of UHPC for civil engineering works in Hong Kong.

Under the direction of the UHPC Task Force, two CEDD’s bridge construction projects in the new development areas (NDA) in the Northern Metropolis have been selected for pilot application of UHPC.  One is a vehicular bridge in Yuen Long South (YLS) NDA project and the other one is a footbridge in Fanling North (FLN) NDA project.  An Expert Panel consisting of local, Mainland and international top-notch scholars for the YLS NDA project to offer guidance on design and construction of this first UHPC vehicular bridge in Hong Kong.  In parallel, a site trial was conducted under FLN NDA project to identify the challenges and explore local good practice for in-situ concreting across the UHPC lifecycle, including storage, logistics, mixing, concreting, etc., under the local environment.  On the basis of findings and experience gained from the pilot projects and selected meritorious elements in the Mainland and foreign standards, design guideline and material specifications for using UHPC in civil engineering works in Hong Kong have been established.