Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai Mega-Bridge Project

[hkskyline]

San Shek Wan top choice for mega bridge's landing point
Dennis Chong, Hong Kong Standard
January 12, 2005

Map

San Shek Wan on Lantau Island is the best starting point for a proposed bridge linking Hong Kong with Zhuhai and Macau, Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang said.

"Our feasibility study shows that San Shek Wan is the only place in terms of environmental protection and economic effectiveness," Tsang said.

"It is also compatible with the long-term development of Hong Kong," he said, adding that the final route and the landing points in Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai for the bridge - which is expected to cost around HK$15 billion by the time it is finished - have yet to be decided.

San Shek Wan lies immediately south of Hong Kong International Airport.

Tsang was speaking after the fourth Working Meeting of Hong Kong and Guangdong Cooperation Joint Conference in Guangzhou.

Tang Bingquan, executive vice-governor of Guangdong province who co-chaired the meeting with Tsang, said there were several construction issues that needed resolving.

"One major concern is the environment with many people expressing concern about the Chinese white dolphin which lives in these waters," he said.

Green groups have criticised the government for not allocating funds to research the impact of the bridge on the endangered dolphins.

Tang said a committee set up to plan the bridge has shortlisted two routes but he refused to reveal further details, adding that a final decision will be made soon. The super bridge is expected to handle about 20,000 vehicles each day and will be the fifth cross-boundary link between the mainland and the SAR once it is built.

About 12 kilometers of the bridge will be in Hong Kong waters.

This section will connect to the 30-kilometer portion in mainland waters across the mouth of the Pearl River from Macau and Zhuhai.

Hopewell Holdings chairman Gordon Wu, one of the strongest supporters of the proposal, said earlier the bridge is likely to be completed by 2008.

I think I've seen renderings for the bridge, but I don't remember where...

And I think in the renderings, the bridge is going to be made up of mostly dull causeway spans. Kinda disappointing, I say if you're going to build a bridge that long, design something resembling the Gibraltar Strait Bridge or bury the bloody thing in a tunnel!

[Insane alex]

Very cool Hkskyline!

[metallinestorm]

a very big bridge

[scorpion]

this project holds great potential long-term for pearl river delta further unification...

[hkskyline]

The bridge does a lot for all the cities involved. For Macau, it provides a new source for tourists and encourage regional tourism. Visitors to Hong Kong can easily take a bus to Macau for some gambling. For Hong Kong, Macau's airport will become a major competitor, but at the same time, goods from the western Pearl River Delta (ie. Zhuhai and beyond) can now easily reach Hong Kong for export, benefiting the container port.

[Insane alex]

Do you have renders of this bridge project?

[philip]

Well, this is going to be one "HUGE" bridge !

[hktreasure]

anybody have more pics? It is useful for my project~^_<

[bs_lover_boy]

The only renders that I saw were on the TVB news and It was like a causeway, which I detest so much. I rather have them build a Gibraltar Bridge there.

[Aboveday]

[xePh3roK]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

Hopewell Holdings chairman Gordon Wu, one of the strongest supporters of the proposal, said earlier the bridge is likely to be completed by 2008.

Is this a joke?
that would be impossible by 2008!!
maybe in 2020

How they want to build about 40-50x 800m high towers for the mega bridge?
From where i've the information?
A good friend of me is an Architecture and interessted on bridges and he tolt me some details about it.

And from where do they want to get the steels for the mega bridge?

Here's a rendering taken from Time Magazine www.time.com



And these are taken from www.saveourshoreline.com



The website itself also has a bunch of articles pertaining to the bridge (looks like they're all from 2003 though):

http://www.saveourshorelines.bizland.com/project03.html

Enjoy!

[scorpion]

interesting to note where the main navigation channel(s) are for the PRD...

[bs_lover_boy]

I don't like that design because it will just be a causeway and look ugly

[Syd-Hk]

its in a tpyoon area, it better be well designed or else...

[hkskyline]

Open tender best option for bridge project
Chloe Lai and Quinton Chan
03 February 2005
South China Morning Post

An open tender would be the best and fairest way to determine the most qualified contractor for the proposed bridge linking Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau, according to Hopewell chairman Sir Gordon Wu Ying-sheung, one of the project's foremost advocates.

He said the tender process would be fair as it involves three governments.

"It will be difficult for anyone to manipulate a process which involves three governments. If I lose, it must be because they get someone smarter than me. If that is the case, I have no hard feelings," he said.

Sir Gordon has been advocating the bridge since the late 1990s. He believes he will win the contract because of his knowledge of highway bridge construction and operation.

He said that some engineers from the National Development and Reform Commission visited him last week to seek his views on the bridge and he told them that an open tender had to be conducted.

He is in favour of a single Y-shaped bridge built between Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau.

He said the bridge's Hong Kong entrance would be at San Shek Wan on Lantau and its Zhuhai entrance would be near the Gongbei checkpoint. Its Macau entrance would be at Perola on the northeast side of the Macau peninsula.

In July 2003, Premier Wen Jiabao gave his backing to a bridge between Hong Kong and the west side of the Pearl River Delta.

Sir Gordon estimates the State Council will approve the project to start in six months, with completion in 2009 to mark Macau's 10th handover anniversary.

Under his proposal, only one checkpoint would be needed for cross-border drivers. All immigration officers would be based there together.

He also proposes to turn part of the bridge into a tunnel so it will be safe from typhoons and terrorist attacks.

"With the bridge and the existing roads in Guangxi , it will take just eight hours for Hong Kong people to reach Vietnam by car," Sir Gordon said.

[bs_lover_boy]

^ Only 8 hours to go to Vietnam!!!! That's Amazing, so does it mean that a person from HK can drive like around 10 Hours to go to Hanoi?

[philip]

I have a question. Do people in Macau or Zhuhai drive on the left? Right now most cars from Hong Kong cannot drive past the city of Shenzhen because Hong Kong drive on the left and China drive on the right. So in the city of Shenzhen you can actualy see two types of cars and sometimes it is quite confusing. I wonder if the same thing will happen to Macau?

[simhks]

Macau drives on the left, Zhuhai on the right...
Most cars can't pass thru the border because they don't have the licence for the car.

In Hong Kong, I can see some cars with 2 licences (mainland and hk). They should be able to go across the border. For Macau, I don't know if we need a third one XDDD.

Well, at least for now, we can visit Macau just on our HK Identity card and don't need anything else, its just an hour comfortable ferry ride, very convenient.