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The other document that will be of enormous importance to us is the Airport Master Plan. Now, we are putting in place a study to produce this Airport Master Plan. It will be an entirely separate consultancy. It doesn't have anything to do with the Master Development Programme. The Airport Master Plan will cover the preparation of the actual design of the airport. It will deal with detailed civil engineering work for the reclamation and the surrounding sea wall. It will also deal with the environment. And the study will serve as the basis upon which we will invite bids from contractors in due course. I think it is a very important document. We have got to establish this basis so when we invite bids people will have some idea as to the sort of airport we want for Hong Kong.
We have shortlisted a number of consortia who are contesting for this particular study and we hope to have the successful consultant appointed and working by June this year.
Now this particular study, the Airport Master Plan Study, is likely to take about 16 months to prepare.
Meanwhile, we plan to let a contract later this year or early in 91 for the preparation of a works area at Chek Lap Kok.
Again this is very important, we need a site where the contractors can put their equipment and so on to work on the airport itself. So the site preparation contract will provide about 20 to 30 hectares of formed land together with basic facilities so that this will enable the formation contractor for the airport the person who will be building the platform - to mobilise his plant and labour and commence work when the contracts are let early in 1992. So that is the next important date - 1991 for the contract for the works area and then work on the airport, hopefully, in early 1992.
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One of the component parts of this whole project which has attracted a lot of attention is, of course, the Lantau Fixed Crossing. We refer to it as the Lantau Fixed Crossing rather than the Lantau Bridge because either a bridge or a tunnel appears technically feasible. A tunnel does pose quite a lot of problems because it will be crossing under very deep water but, nevertheless, it is an option that has to be considered seriously.
A bid package will be used as the basis for inviting private sector proposals to construct and operate this Fixed Crossing under a franchise arrangement.