Summary

Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) is an innovative approach to construction with widely demonstrated benefits including enhanced productivity, quality, cost-effectiveness and sustainability, and reduced safety hazards, waste and reliance on-site labour. The Policy Address of the Chief Executive of the HKSAR states that the Government will adopt the MiC approach to build light public housing (LPH) units expeditiously, and about 30,000 LPH units will be completed in five years. The Government also suggests that the Housing Authority require all public housing projects scheduled for completion in the first five-year period (2023-24 to 2027-28) to adopt the MiC approach in suitable projects and in the second five-year period (2028-29 to 2032-33), no less than 50% of the projects will adopt the MiC approach and that Housing Society will also adopt the MiC approach in more public housing projects. Consequently, hundreds of thousands or even millions of bulky volumetric modules, prefabricated in factories located mainly in the Greater Bay Area, will be transported to the construction sites in Hong Kong for assembly.  This inevitably poses a challenge to Hong Kong's transportation system.   How to ensure transportation safety and efficiency through technology and innovation becomes crucial.

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A multidisciplinary research team led by Professor Wei Pan, Head of Department of Civil Engineering at The University of Hong Kong disrupts MiC module transport by developing a smart planning platform for safe and efficient MiC module transport.  This project has secured a funding support of HK$19,326,900 from the Smart Traffic Fund (Project Reference: PSRI/69/2306/RA). With additional matching funds from the university and industry, the total project budget amounts to HK$21,475,900.

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The innovative smart planning platform will offer three core technologies that promise to revolutionise MiC module transport in Hong Kong, including 3D Swept Path Analysis (SPA), Swept Path-Aware Routing (SPR), and Traffic Impact Review (TIR). These cutting-edge technologies will help reduce module transport safety risks by at least 40% compared to daily routing tools and improve swept path analysis efficiency by at least 50% and traffic impact review efficiency by at least 40% compared to current practice. This 24-month project has kicked off since 1 Dec 2023 and should safeguard the safe, efficient, and environmentally-friendly MiC module transport system of Hong Kong, ultimately benefiting the entire community.