MONDAY, JUNE 2, 1975
TUEN MUN ROAD TAKING SHAPE
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THE MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR TUEN MUN ROAD, WHICH WILL PROVIDE A FAST MOTOR FREEWAY BETWEEN TUEN MUN AND TSUEN VAN, IS BEGINNING TO TAKE SHAPE.
WORK ON THE 15-KILOMETRE HIGHWAY. DESIGNED TO CATER FOR THE LARGE VOLUME OF TRAFFIC EXPECTED WITH THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TWO SATELLITE TOWNS, BEGAN JUST OVER SIX MONTHS AGO AND
IS PROGRESSING SMOOTHLY AND ON SCHEDULE. PRELIMINARY WORK ON NEARLY HALF ITS LENGTH HAS BEEN COMPLETED.
ACCORDING TO A SPOKESMAN FOR PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT'S HIGHWAYS OFFICE, ABOUT ONE QUARTER OF THE CUTTING WORK, 15 PER CENT OF FILLING WORK AND SIX PER CENT OF BRIDGE WORK ARE NOW FINISHED. AS FOR THE MARINE WORK AT TAI LAM CHUNG BAY WHERE THE ROAD WILL CROSS THE BAY, DREDGING WORK IS VIRTUALLY READY.
TUEN MUN ROAD WILL BE A DUAL THREE-LANE CARRIAGEWAY, WITH 16 MAJOR BRIDGES SPANNING STEEP HILLSIDES AND TWO GRADE- SEPARATED INTERCHANGES AT SHAM TSENG AND TAI LAM CHUNG.
STAGE ONE OF THE PROJECT, WHICH WILL TAKE 34 MONTHS TO COMPLETE, COMPRISES THE CONSTRUCTION OF ONE OF THE TWO CARRIAGEWAYS, 16 BRIDGES AND THE TWO INTERCHANGES.
THE $222 MILLION CONTRACT, AWARDED TO A JAPANESE COMPANY, IS THE LARGEST SINGLE CONTRACT EVER LET BY THE HIGHWAYS OFFICE.
CONSTRUCTION WORK OFFICIALLY STARTED LAST OCTOBER, MARKED BY A 1,000-YEAR-OLD SHINTO CEREMONY PERFORMED BY JAPANESE PRIESTS.
THAT
TWO THIRDS OF THE CONSTRUCTION WORK IS EARTHWORK IS, CUTTING AND FILLING — WHEREAS THE REMAINING THIRD IS STRUCTURAL WORK, WHICH IS THE BUILDING OF BRIDGES AND OTHER CONCRETE STRUCTURES.
THE HIGHWAYS OFFICE SPOKESMAN SAID CONSTRUCTION WORK OF THE WHOLE LENGTH OF TUEN MUN ROAD RUNNING FROM CHAI WAN KOK AT TSUEN WAN TO CASTLE PEAK DAY AT TUEN MUN IS BEING CARRIED OUT IN FIVE SECTIONS SIMULTANEOUSLY.
MAJOR CONCRETE STRUCTURES OF THE ROAD ARE AT SECTIONS
1 AND 11, RUNNING FROM CHAI WAN KOK TO TSING LUNG TAU. THESE FEATURES INCLUDE SEVERAL MAIN FLYOVERS, BOX STRUCTURES FOR PEDESTRIANS AND WATER DRAINAGE SYSTEMS.
/THE MAIN