Macau's Bridges

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Source : http://www.fotop.net/focus730/SaiWanBridge

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Source : http://www.fotop.net/pennysuen

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By ivan0201 from dchome :

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr

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By fatshe from skyscrapers.cn :

[venom6]

Very nice bridge!

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By KK中班傅鳴 from dcareahk :

[3dinge]

Curious bridge...a bit different

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By Henryphoto from a Hong Kong photography forum :

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Macau bridge too weak for railway
13 June 2010
SCMP

Macau's showcase 7.5 billion pataca light rail project is in trouble again - this time due to a corruption-tainted bridge that may not be able to bear its weight. The problem could lead to further delays and budget overruns.

Peeling concrete, rusting bolts and leaking water are just some of the smaller challenges that the current condition of Macau's six-year old Sai Van bridge poses for a successful installation of the planned light rapid-transit (LRT) rail system, a flagship government project intended to relieve transport bottlenecks in the booming casino town.

"I guess these problems with the bridge really shouldn't come as a surprise," Macau legislator Jose Coutinho said. "Local people call it the `corruption bridge' because it was one of [former transport and public works secretary] Ao Man-long's projects."

When it opened in 2004 in a high-profile ceremony presided over by President Hu Jintao , the Sai Van bridge between the Macau peninsula and Taipa Island was hailed as Macau's largest public infrastructure project since the 1999 handover. The 560 million pataca bridge was designed to carry vehicles on its upper deck and a rail line and emergency vehicle lanes on its lower deck, which is enclosed to allow passage even during a typhoon.

But it later emerged that contractor Chon Tit (Macau) Investment and Development, a unit of state-owned China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), won the tender to build the bridge after its general manager, Chen Dongsheng, paid 14 million patacas in kickbacks to Ao.

Ao is the highest-ranking Macau official to be convicted of graft since the handover and is currently more than three years into a 28 1/2-year prison term. Initially detained in December 2006, he was eventually found guilty of 81 counts of bribe taking, money laundering and other corruption charges. Following an appeal against his earlier conviction, Chen was sentenced in his absence in 2008 to five years and three months in jail for money laundering and bribery.

Ao's legacy continues to hover like a spectre over Macau's skyline in the form of the large-scale projects whose contractors lined his pockets with bribes and kickbacks, according to prosecutors: the Macau Dome, roads, gardens, public utilities and dozens of other projects.

Still, the issues with the Sai Van bridge are perhaps Macau's most prominent display of how its corrupt past continues to haunt its promising future as an international tourist destination.

In addition to mostly superficial rust, chipped concrete and water leakage, more substantial structural issues with the cable-stayed bridge need to be addressed.

Up to 52 of the bridge's 96 supporting cables may need to be replaced to meet loading requirements for the additional weight of the light rail system, according to a bridge safety study commissioned last year by the Macau government and carried out by Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong, a copy of which has been seen by the Sunday Morning Post.

Moreover, installation of proper ventilation systems and emergency evacuation routes will also require significant retrofitting of the bridge's concrete-enclosed lower deck, according to the report. Ove Arup declined to comment, citing a confidentiality agreement.

"This bridge is really the Achilles' heel of the whole light rail project," a person with direct knowledge of the situation said.

First proposed in 2003 and budgeted at 4.2 billion patacas as of 2007, Macau's plans for a light rail system have undergone numerous rounds of feasibility study, public consultation and design alteration.

The latest version unveiled last year calls for a budget of 7.5 billion patacas, up 79 per cent from previous estimates. The government's Transportation Infrastructure Office plans the first phase of the LRT to begin service in 2014 with a capacity to move 8,000 passengers per hour per direction. The route encompasses 21 stations, beginning at the Zhuhai border in the north, curving around the Lisboa casino hotel, crossing the Sai Van bridge to Taipa and Cotai and ending at the Macau International Airport.

The transportation office is currently vetting bids from three consortiums seeking to supply trains and related systems for the project. But unlike similar light rail projects globally, Macau is asking potential suppliers to also take responsibility for carrying out all necessary retrofitting and maintenance of the Sai Van bridge.

"That is pretty onerous on the contractor," said a second person with direct knowledge of the project. "It's like asking someone who renovated one floor of flats to take responsibility for the entire building."

A spokesperson for the transportation office contacted on Friday said the government would be unable to respond to inquiries by press time yesterday.

Macau's original March deadline for bids was pushed back by a month due to the bridge issues. Tenders were received in April from a partnership between Bombardier and China Road and Bridge Corporation (at 4.57 billion patacas), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (at 4.69 billion patacas) and a partnership between Siemens and the original bridge builder, CCECC (at 6.28 billion patacas).

According to the official government tender, the winning bid should be announced by next month and rail services will start by August 2014.

"I'm worried about the amount of money that is going to be spent on the LRT," Coutinho said. "The project raises many questions about a lack of transparency."

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By FreeMiLk from a Hong Kong photography forum :

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By 索伦 from a Chinese photography forum :

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By 艺海紫薇 from a Chinese photography forum :

[VoltAmps]

That is one UGLY bridge (the white one at the top of the thread)

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The bridges that cross that section of water tend to rise up and down like that to let boats pass. I guess it's too expensive to have a high bridge throughout.

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By yafj_007 from a Chinese photography forum :

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New Macau-Taipa Bridge faces challenges
09/07/2011 09:38:00
Macau Daily Times

A government source said there are major difficulties in building the fourth bridge connecting the Macau peninsula and Taipa, according to TDM news yesterday.

The unnamed source disclosed that no matter if it were a seabed tunnel or a cross-sea bridge, it would be expected that construction would face a variety of issues.

If a seabed tunnel is to be built, the source said it would be affected by “water depth and sediment” that settles at the bottom of the sea.

And if the peninsula and Taipa is again joined by a new cross-sea bridge, the source pointed out that due to its proximity to the Friendship Bridge and the airport runway, construction may be hampered by aviation safety and height limit issues.

The excavation method of shield tunnelling appears to be the solution for now but the cost is high, the source added.

This method involves excavation of the seabed then laying of a protective structure for the passage to be excavated.

However, the source said the protective structure itself would cost MOP 200 million, TDM news reported.

Nevertheless, the source disclosed that the government is trying to ascertain the best possible construction method with experts who participated in the design of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, and it’s hoped that the study will be completed before the end of this year.

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Sunset on the bridge by kore.yang, on Flickr

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One Central Macau by kore.yang, on Flickr

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L1064166 by terencehonin, on Flickr