MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1984
FINAL BYPASS BRIDGE DECK LAUNCHED
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A MAJOR SECTION OF THE TAI PO BYPASS, WHICH FORMS PART OF THE TRUNK ROAD LINKING THE LION ROCK TUNNEL AND SHEUNG SHUI, WAS COMPLETED TODAY WITH THE LAUNCHING OF THE FINAL BRIDGE DECK.
MR EDDIE SHORT, WHO WILL BE RETIRING AS HEAD OF THE ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, PRESSED A BUTTON TO MOVE THE 158-METRE LONG CONCRETE BRIDGE INTO ITS FINAL POSITION, WITHOUT THE USE OF CRANES AND WINCHES.
THE LINK WAS COMPLETED WITHIN MINUTES THROUGH A NEW METHOD PIONEERED IN WEST GERMANY, THE INCREMENTAL LAUNCHING TECHNIQUE+.
THIS TECHNIQUE WAS INTRODUCED IN HONG KONG IN 1982, FOLLOWING THE AWARD OF THE $200 MILLION TAI PO BYPASS CONTRACT TO KUMAGA I GUMI (HK) LTD. THE 2.9 KILOMETRES BYPASS STRETCHES FROM ISLAND HOUSE IN THE EAST TO NORTH TAI PO.
FOUR OF THE FIVE BRIDGES IN THE BYPASS PROJECT ADOPTED THIS TECHNIQUE, IN WHICH 10-METRE LONG PRESTRESSED CONCRETE SEGMENTS ARE LAUNCHED IN SUCCESSIVE STAGES ACROSS ROWS OF COLUMNS.
DURING LAUNCHING, THE SEGMENTS OF THE DECK ARE SUPPORTED AT THE COLUMNS ON TEMPORARY BEARINGS OF STAINLESS STEEL AND TEFLON SURFACES THAT ENABLE THE STRUCTURES TO MOVE FORWARD SMOOTHLY.
THE MAIN ADVANTAGE OF USING SUCH A TECHNIQUE, FIRST USED IN VENEZUELA 20 YEARS AGO, IS THAT IT ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR TEMPORARY SCAFFOLDING AND THEREBY MINIMISES ENVIRONMENTAL DISTURBANCE.
THE PRINCIPAL GOVERNMENT HIGHWAY ENGINEER, MR HAROLD BEATON, IN A SPEECH AT THE LAUNCHING CEREMONY, SAID THAT THE LAUNCHING MARKS AN IMPORTANT STEP FORWARD IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE N.T. TRUNK ROAD SYSTEM.
MR BEATON SAID WORK ON THE NEW TERRITORIES CIRCULAR ROAD WAS PROGRESSING WELL WITH THE ROUTE ONE SECTION EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED AND OPENED TO TRAFFIC IN STAGES FROM NEXT MONTH TO THE END OF NEXT YEAR.
+APART FROM COPING WITH TRAFFIC DEMAND FOR THE NEW TOWN DEVELOPMENTS, COMPLETION OF THE TRUNK ROAD FROM SHA TIN TO SHEUNG SHUI, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE ROAD IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES FOR ACCESS TO MAN KAM TO AND LOK MA CHAU, ALLOW FOR FUTURE TRAFFIC GROWTH BETWEEN HONG KONG AND CHINA,+ HE SAID.
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