NEW HONG KONG FACILITY

This article profiles the new express air cargo facility at Hong Kong International Airport by DHL Worldwide Express. An agreement sets up a 15-year contract for operation of a dedicated Express Cargo Terminal with a total investment of $100 million. Engineering team Burks Green of the U.K. is using a new concept first implemented at DHL's first bespoke hub building in Europe. Key design elements were materials handling, operating functionality, safety and security, as well as environmental, programming and budgeting constraints. It had to be architecturally integrated into the rest of the airport's buildings and required special engineering work because of its location on a combination of firm subsoils and landfill. The facility is projected to create close to 700 jobs by 2004 and eventually grow to more than 900 by 2010. It will be able to handle about 900 tons per day when at full implementation in 2014 on an enlarged footprint. When it opens it will handle 20,000 shipments per hour.