Hong Kong nearly set to give Bay Bridge place to go

A problematic engineering feat, the 12-km Hong Kong Link Road of the Hong Kong Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, has entered final-stage construction, the special administrative region Highway Department told the Zhuhai Daily on Jan 23.

Road surfacing and facilities along the 9.4-km precast spans and piers, 1-km Scenic Hill (Guanjing Mt) Tunnel, and 1.6-km at-grade causeway along the east coast of Chek Lap Kok International Airport have been completed. Remaining are final installation and testing of the Traffic Control & Surveillance System, and completion of ancillary facilities, reported the department.

The dual three-lane link line runs between Scenic Hill and Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities on Lantau Island.

Beam bridge off Lantau Island [Photo/Zhuhai Daily]

Another breakthrough was final connection of the entire link road last May 17. Construction had commenced in 2012, with the most challenging part being tunneling the Scenic Hill section, according to the department.

To minimize environmental and visual impacts, the tunnel passes through Scenic Hill and under Airport Road and the Airport Express Line before connecting to the at-grade section of reclaimed land leading to the border-crossing facility. The excavation has two 1-km tunnel tubes.

At-grade causeway on east coast of airport [Photo/Zhuhai Daily]

Engineers encountered difficulties that led to underground and open-cut excavations under Airport Road and the reclamation area. They used computers to have large groups of hydraulic jacks simultaneously push large tunnel performs below the Airport Express Line. The construction of two large traffic tunnels and the normal and safe operation of the express road required strict engineering. Construction was cited as "extremely difficult."

Additionally, after nearly three months, the viaduct (beam bridge) passed the load test, as 230 spans of 19 structures between the Hong Kong-Guangdong boundary line and Airport Island were tested in mid-October 2017.

Scenic Hill tunnel [Photo/Zhuhai Daily]