FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1983
THE RESIDENT ENGINEER FOR THE PROJECT, MR EDWARD ROBLIN SAID THE TECHNIQUE WAS DEVELOPED BY THE GERMANS AND FIRST USED IN VENEZUELA 20 YEARS AGO.
HE SAID ITS MAIN ADVANTAGE IS THAT IT ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR TEMPORARY SCAFFOLDING AND THEREBY MINIMISES ENVIRONMENTAL DISTURBANCE,
THE TAI PO BYPASS PROJECT IS DESIGNED AND IS BEING SUPERVISED BY THE HIGHWAYS OFFICE OF THE ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT. THE ORIGINAL DESIGN FOR THE BRIDGES PREPARED BY THE STRUCTURAL DESIGN DIVISION WAS TO USE PRECAST, PRESTRESSED CONCRETE BEAMS WITH CAST-IN-SITU CONCRETE DECKS.
HOWEVER, THE CONTRACTOR, KUMAGI GUMI (HK) LTD, PROPOSED INSTEAD USING THE INCREMENTAL LAUNCHING TECHNIQUE WHICH WAS ACCEPTED AT A SAVING OF $10 MILLION TO THE GOVERNMENT.
MR ROBLIN SAID EACH COMPLETED STRUCTURE CONSISTS OF TWO BRIDGES. DURING LAUNCHING A 1.2-METRE WIDE GAP WAS MAINTAINED BETWEEN THE TWO BRIDGES INTO WHICH THE DIVIDER WOULD EVENTUALLY BE PLACED.
SEGMENTS VARY FROM 10.50 METRES TO 10.85 METRES IN LENGTH.
A 21-METRE-LONG STEEL +NOSE+ IS BUILT ON THE FRONT STRUCTURE TO REDUCE BENDING WHEN BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THE COLUMNS.
THE MAXIMUM DISTANCE BETWEEN COLUMNS USING THIS TECHNIQUE IS 42 METRES, MR ROBLIN SAID.
TAI PO BYPASS IS PART OF THE NEW TERRITORIES TRUNK ROAD SYSTEM. IT WILL RUN FROM ISLAND HOUSE TO NORTH TAI PO AND COST MORE THAN $200 MILLION. WORK ON THE PROJECT STARTED IN MARCH, 1982, AND IS SCHEDULED FOR COMPLETION IN THE MIDDLE OF 1985.
THE SECTION ON WHICH THE NEW BRIDGE BUILDING TECHNIQUE IS BEING USED IS 2.9 KILOMETRES LONG. IT IS DUAL THREE-LANE AND THE PROJECT INCLUDES CONSTRUCTION OF 0.7 KILOMETRES OF DUAL TWO-LANE LINK ROAD CONNECTING THE TRUNK ROAD TO THE NORTH TAI PO DEVELOPMENT AREA. THE LINK ROAD PROJECT INCLUDES CONSTRUCTION OF AN ORDINARY+ BRIDGE TO CROSS THE RETRAINED LAM TSUEN RIVER.
MR ROBLIN SAID THE ROADWORKS PASSED THROUGH RUGGED TERRAIN AND INTERSECTED A NUMBER OF VALLEYS. NEARLY ONE MILLION CUBIC METRES OF ROCK AND SOIL WERE BEING EXCAVATED WITH CUTTING SLOPES TO A DEPTH OF 60 METRES. THE FIVE BRIDGES VARIED IN LENGTH FROM 109 METRES TO 276 METRES WITH COLUMNS UP TO 30 METRES HIGH.
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