Highways Department confirms smoke and water leaks in the immigration building for the Hong Kong-Macau bridge
There were concerns in April about another part of the bridge. The government has admitted that the immigration building for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge has had problems with water leakages and smoke in its basement.
This comes after video footage emerged online on Monday, showing serious flooding in the basement of the immigration building on the Hong Kong side of the bridge. The video also showed black smoke coming out of a pillar box in the room.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Highways Department admitted that there had been water leaks and smoke in the building’s basement. The department said the two incidents were unrelated to each other, and stressed that the problems had already been fixed.
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge is built, but not open to the public yet
The utilities for the building, including the electrical equipment and cooling systems, are located in the basement. According to the department, some underground cable ducts were not sealed properly after construction. This caused rainwater to flow down the ducts into the basement.
The Highways Department also said that the smoke seen coming out of a box in the video was caused by the building’s air conditioning system. It said that part of the system had broken down, causing it to overheat and emit smoke.
The Passenger Clearance Building houses Hong Kong’s immigration clearance and transport facilities for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge. The facility, which is located on a reclaimed island next to Hong Kong International Airport, is still under construction.