Hong Kong authorities announced yesterday evening that the world’s largest air purifier, designed to suck exhaust out of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass tunnel, is back in service after embarrassingly conking out shortly after the tunnel opened in February.
The failure of the system, heralded at its inception as a technological marvel, wasn’t revealed until last month, when red-faced officials admitted that it had not been operational for weeks due to damaged bolts and blade edges in 15 of its fans.
The admission was another black mark for the US$4.6 billion 3.7 kilometer tunnel, which had already been faulted for years of delays and cost overruns.
Work to repair the damaged components has now been completed, though officials said the cause of the damage is still unknown.
“Together with the consultants, contractor and tunnel operator, the department will closely monitor the system and arrange an efficiency test for it to ensure smooth operation,” the Highways Department said in a statement.
The damage affected the purification system’s striking-looking eastern filter, a large citrus reamer-shaped tower on the city’s waterfront.
In terms of volume of air handled, the purifier was the world’s largest, designed to handle 5.4 million cubic meters of vehicle exhaust every hour.
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