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Joint Venture - Dragages Hong Kong & Bouygues Construction

Project: Ocean Park Redevelopment Contract; C105 Summit Site Formation Excavation – Hong Kong, China

Many dolphins, seals, sharks, stingrays, and reef fish in Hong Kong were unaffected by nearby blasting thanks to the innovative work of Dragages Bouyges JV. Ocean Park, a major tourist attraction that is home to four aquaria, is being redeveloped to include new attractions, a hotel, and a ¾ mile (1.2 km) funicular railway tunnel to link two sections of the park. To complete the project, 24,489 ft³ (750,000 m³) of material needed to be excavated over a 14 month period from the mountain adjacent to the park to form the new platform required for construction.

Due to the close proximity of four aquaria, Dragages Bouyges JV was contracted to develop a system and execute a monitoring plan to create a permanent record of pressure pulses being transmitted into the aquaria water from ground vibrations resulting from blasting operations. Instantel® Minimate Plus™ vibration monitors equipped with hydrophone attachments were selected to monitor water overpressure in the aquaria to ensure the safety of the marine animals. Blasts were planned with maximum instantaneous charges so as not to exceed the allowable 4 – 5 kPa overpressure in the aquaria. Exceeding this limit would enter the Temporary Threshold Shift zone, and potentially harm the species being monitored.

Use of Instantel’s equipment has been very successful and the marine animals have not been affected by Noise Induced Threshold Shift (NITS) and/or Temporary Threshold Shift (TTS), which could cause them to suffer hearing damage or loss.