TUESDAY, JULY 27, 1993
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BRIDGE TOWER REACHES 100 METRES MARK
THE FIRST OF THE TWO GIANT CONCRETE TOWERS WHICH WILL SUPPORT THE TSING MA BRIDGE HAS REACHED A HEIGHT OF 100 AFTER CONSTRUCTION BEGAN.
METRES, EIGHT WEEKS
TOWER,
WHEN THE JOB IS COMPLETED IN MID-SEPTEMBER THE CONCRETE LOCATED ON TSING YI, WILL BE 190 METRES THE SAME HEIGHT AS SOME OF THE MODERN 50-STOREY OFFICE BUILDINGS IN HONG KONG'S CENTRAL DISTRICT.
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WORK ON THE SECOND 190-METRE CONCRETE TOWER, AT THE MA WAN END OF THE BRIDGE, IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN IN AUGUST AND BE COMPLETED IN ABOUT THREE MONTHS.
AS SLIPFORMING,
THE TOWERS ARE BEING BUILT BY A PROCESS KNOWN WHICH ACCELERATES THE SPEED AT WHICH CONCRETE CAN BE POURED.
THE FORMS OR SHUTTERS
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WHICH
SURROUND THE CONCRETE MOVE
STEADILY UPWARDS.
THIS IS A QUICKER PROCESS COMPARED WITH THE MORE CONVENTIONAL BUILDING METHODS WHERE THE FORMS ARE DISMANTLED AND RE-ERECTED AT EVERY STAGE OF THE CONSTRUCTION.
BE INSTALLED
STEEL TRUSSES WEIGHING UP TO 185 TONES EACH WILL TO BRACE THE TOWER LEGS TEMPORARILY AS CONCRETE WORK PROCEEDS.
THE TRUSSES WILL EVENTUALLY BE ENCASED IN REINFORCED CONCRETE AND PRESTRESSED TO THE TOWER LEGS.
REINFORCED CONCRETE PLINTHS WILL BE CONSTRUCTED ON TOP OF THE TOWER AFTER THE SLIPFORMING OPERATION. STEEL SADDLES WILL THEN BE ERECTED ON THE PLINTHS TO CARRY THE MAIN SUSPENSION BRIDGE CABLES. THIS WILL BRING THE TOTAL HEIGHT OF THE TOWER TO ABOVE 200 METRES.
BY SPRING NEXT YEAR THE SHAPE OF THE TSING MA BRIDGE, WHICH WILL BE ONE OF THE WORLD'S LONGEST SUSPENSION BRIDGES, WILL START ΤΟ EMERGE WHEN WORK BEGINS ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TEMPORARY CATWALKS, FROM WHICH THE MAIN CABLES WILL BE CONSTRUCTED USING A PROCESS KNOWN AS AERIAL WIRE SPINNING.
THE TSING MA BRIDGE, PART OF THE LANTAU FIXED CROSSING, IS A KEY ELEMENT OF THE TRANSPORT NETWORK IN THE AIRPORT CORE PROGRAMME LINKING NORTH LANTAU AND THE AIRPORT AT CHEK LAP KOK TO THE REST OF HONG KONG.
IT IS BEING CONSTRUCTED UNDER A $7.14 BILLION CONTRACT AWARDED LAST MAY TO THE ANGLO-JAPANESE CONSTRUCTION JOINT VENTURE.
THE BRIDGE WAS DESIGNED FOR THE GOVERNMENT HIGHWAYS DEPARTMENT BY MOTT MACDONALD HONG KONG LIMITED.
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