TUESDAY, MAY 10, 1977
WORK ON ABERDEEN TUNNEL BEGINS
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WORK BEGAN TODAY ON ONE OF THE BIGGEST AND MOST AMBITIOUS HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS EVER AWARDED BY THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT · THE MASSIVE $280 MILLION ABERDEEN TUNNEL.
THE TWIN-TUBE TUNNEL - THE FIRST TO BE DRIVEN ON HONG KONG ISLAND WILL RUN NEARLY TWO KILOMETRES THROUGH THE HEART OF MIDDLE GAP BETWEEN THE 426-METRE PEAKS OF MOUNT CAMERON AND MOUNT NICHOLSON TO PROVIDE A THREE-MINUTE EXPRESS LINK BETWEEN HAPPY VALLEY AND ABERDEEN.
DETAILS OF THE SCHEME WERE ANNOUNCED TODAY BY THE P.W.D.'S PRINCIPAL GOVERNMENT HIGHWAY ENGINEER, MR. GORDON SAPSTEAD, AT THE OFFICIAL SIGNING OF THE MAIN CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT.
THE CONTRACT, WORTH SOME $184 MILLION, HAS BEEN AWARDED TO ABERDEEN TUNNEL JOINT VENTURE A NEWLY FORMED CONSORTIUM OF FOUR FIRMS REPRESENTING FRANCE, HONG KONG, SWEDEN AND WEST GERMANY.
THEY ARE SOCIETE FRANCAISE D'ENTERPRISES DE DRAGAGES ET DE TRAVAUX PUBLICS, GAMMON (H.K.) LTD., SVENSKA ENTREPENAD AB SENTAB, AND HOCHTIEF A.G. FUR HOCH UND TIEFBAUTEN.
MR. SAPSTEAD SAID THE TUNNELLING WORKS WOULD TAKE ABOUT THREE AND A HALF YEARS AND IT WAS EXPECTED TO OPEN TO TRAFFIC BY THE END OF 1980.
+ THE ABERDEEN TUNNEL WILL FORM AN INTEGRAL PART OF A MAJOR TRUNK ROUTE, WHICH WILL ULTIMATELY LINK UP WITH TUEN MUN ROAD AND TSUEN WAN BY-PASS, AND SHOULD ENABLE MOTORISTS TO DRIVE FROM TUEN MUN TO ABERDEEN IN JUST ABOUT 40 MINUTES,+ HE SAID.
+THIS IS AN EXCITING AND HIGHLY CHALLENGING VENTURE, HE ADDED, AND WE ARE CONFIDENT THAT IT HAS BEEN PLACED IN THE HANDS OF SOME OF THE WORLD'S BEST TUNNEL ENGINEERS.
+THE PROJECT IS MADE ALL THE MORE DRAMATIC BY THE FACT THAT INSTEAD OF CONTRACTING FOR ONE DUAL-LANE TUBE AND THEN EXTEND ING TO TWO TUNNELS LATER, AS WAS ORIGINALLY PLANNED, WE HAVE DECIDED TO GO AHEAD WITH THE ENTIRE TWIN-TUBE PROJECT.
WITH EACH TUNNEL BUILT TO COPE WITH A TRAFFIC FLOW OF SOME 2,400 VEHICLES AN HOUR, THE PROJECT WOULD NOT ONLY PROVIDE A SPEEDY NORTH-SOUTH ACCESS THROUGH THE HEART OF HONG KONG ISLAND, BUT SHOULD ALSO ABSORB ALL THE TRAFFIC GENERATED ON THE ISLAND'S RAPIDLY DEVELOPING SOUTH SIDE, HE SAID.
IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE TWIN TUNNELS, WORK IS PROCEEDING ON AN INTERCHANGE SYSTEM AT WONG CHUK HANG OUTSIDE THE TUNNEL'S SOUTHERN PORTAL, ALONG WITH A $85 MILLION EXTENSION OF THE CANAL ROAD FLYOVER AT THE NORTHERN HAPPY VALLEY END.
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