XN000022-1977-12-20 — Page 5

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1977

SOUTHERN APPROACH ROADS TO AP LEI CHAU BRIDGE CONTRACT SIGNED

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THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT TODAY LET A $23 MILLION CONTRACT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SOUTHERN APPROACH ROADS TO AP LEI CHAU BRIDGE.

THE CONTRACT, WHICH FORMS PART OF THE $60 MILLION AP LEI CHAU BRIDGE PROJECT, WAS AWARDED TO FOOK LEE CONSTRUCTION CO. LTD. AND WAS FORMALLY SIGNED AT THE P.W.D. HEADQUARTERS THIS (TUESDAY) MORNING.

MR. S. BARDEN, THE PRINCIPAL GOVERNMENT HIGHWAY ENGINEER, WHO SIGNED ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT, SAID THAT THE WORK WOULD

INVOLVE THE CONSTRUCTION OF A 900-METRE-LONG ROAD, A SLIP ROAD AND A PEDESTRIAN SUBWAY ON AP LEI CHAU.

WORK FOR THE CONTRACT WILL BEGIN NEXT WEEK AND WILL TAKE 18 MONTHS TO COMPLETE.

MR. BARDEN SAID: THE SOUTHERN APPROACH ROADS WILL BE TIMED FOR COMPLETION AT THE SAME TIME AS THE BRIDGE AND THE NORTHERN APPROACH ROADS, SO THAT THE WHOLE SCHEME CAN BE OPENED TO TRAFFIC BY MID-1979.+

+ON COMPLETION, HE SAID, THE APPROACH ROADS ALONG WITH THE AP LEI CHAU BRIDGE WOULD PROVIDE A DIRECT LINK BETWEEN THE AP LEI CHAU HOUSING ESTATE AND ABERDEEN WHILE THE SLIP ROAD, MEASURING 270 METRES IN LENGTH, WOULD LINK AP LEI CHAU VILLAGE WITH THE SOUTHERN APPROACHES TO THE BRIDGE.

+TO FACILITATE PEDESTRIAN MOVEMENTS, A SUBWAY WILL BE BUILT NEAR THE AP LE! CHAU KAIFONG SCHOOL. FOOTPATHS WILL ALSO BE PROVIDED ON BOTH SIDES OF THE SLIP ROAD AND ALONG THE NORTHERN SIDE OF THE MAIN ROAD,+ HE SAID.

MEANWHILE, WORK IS UNDERWAY ON THE $32 MILLION AP LEI CHAU BRIDGE AND ITS NORTHERN ROAD CONNECTIONS IN ABERDEEN.

THE 230-METRE-LONG BRIDGE, WHICH WILL CARRY TWO TRAFFIC LANES, WITH A CAPACITY OF ABOUT 1,500 VEHICLES PER HOUR, WILL BE THE FIRST TO LINK HONG KONG WITH ONE OF ITS OFFSHORE ISLANDS.

MR. BARDEN POINTED OUT THAT THE AP LEI CHAU BRIDGE AND THE $280 MILLION ABERDEEN TUNNEL, WHICH WILL BE COMPLETED BY MID-1980, WILL ALSO PROVIDE A FAST AND DIRECT ROAD LINK FROM AP LEI CHAU TO THE NORTHERN PART OF HONG KONG ISLAND VIA THE ABERDEEN TUNNEL, AND THENCE THROUGH THE CROSS HARBOUR TENNEL TO KOWLOON AND THE NEW TERRITORIES.

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