THE AIRPORT CORE PROGRAMME
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Kowloon Reclamation and help relieve pressure on existing local and distributor roads. Physical work on the expressway started in August 1993 and is scheduled for opening in February 1997. At the year's end, 95 per cent of the project was complete. The Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi sections of Route 3 will link the northern end of the West Kowloon Expressway to the approaches to the Lantau Link. It comprises the Cheung Ching Tunnel, the Kwai Chung Viaduct and the Rambler Channel Bridge. The Rambler Channel Bridge was structurally completed in June 1996. Work on the remaining two contracts continued, with completion scheduled for early 1997. Significant milestones were reached during the year with the completion of the major tunnel works for the Cheung Ching Tunnel and completion of viaduct construction above the busy Kwai Chung Road. The Kwai Chung viaduct is scheduled for opening in February and the Tsing Yi section of Route 3 is expected to open in May 1997. Overall, 98 per cent of the project was complete.
The two-deck Lantau Link, carrying a railway as well as roads, consists of the Tsing Ma suspension bridge linking Tsing Yi to Ma Wan; a viaduct over Ma Wan; and the cable-stayed Kap Shui Mun Bridge linking Ma Wan to Lantau. The Tsing Ma Bridge has already become a major Hong Kong landmark. Its main span of almost 1.4 kilometres will make it the world's longest suspension bridge carrying both road and rail traffic. Work on the Lantau Link began in May 1992 and it is scheduled to open in May 1997. Deck section erection for the Tsing Ma and Kap Shui Mun Bridges was completed in March. Overall, 95 per cent of the project was complete. The North Lantau Expressway will be a 12.5-kilometre, dual three-lane highway along the northern coast of Lantau, joining the Lantau Link to Tung Chung new town and the new airport. Work started in 1992 and is scheduled for completion in February 1997. The project was 99 per cent complete.
Airport Railway
The 34-kilometre Airport Railway will provide two separate services, operating mainly on the same tracks but with separate platforms. There will be a fast passenger link to the new airport, called the Airport Express, and a domestic service called the Lantau Line.
During the year, key milestones of the civil construction works were achieved generally on time. In January, the final section of seawall enclosing the Central Reclamation was closed. Track-laying began in March, marking the start of system- wide installations and other electrical and mechanical works. Topping-out of the Tai Kok Tsui Station (renamed Olympic Station in December) and the breakthrough of the Lai King Tunnels were achieved in August. The Airport Railway cross-harbour tunnel was structurally completed in October after the immersion of the last of the 10 tunnel units in May. Structural work for the Tung Chung Station was completed in December. Good progress was made on the manufacture of the rolling stock, as well as the detailed design and manufacturing of other electrical and mechanical equipment. By the end of 1996, 65 per cent of the Airport Railway project was complete.
Contracts and Tenders
Up to the end of 1996, a total of 170 major contracts, worth about $95.8 billion, had been awarded. They included 90 contracts worth about $38.4 billion awarded by the