XN000022-1980-02-18 — Page 4

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1980

WORK ON NEW RAILWAY TUNNEL PROGRESSES SMOOTHLY

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WORK ON THE $78 MILLION NEW BEACON HILL RAILWAY TUNNEL IS PROGRESSING SMOOTHLY.

SO FAR, ABOUT 1 230 METRES OF TUNNELLING AT THE SOUTHERN END OF THE TUNNEL HAS BEEN COMPLETED. OF THIS, SOME 830 METRES HAS BEEN LINED WITH CONCRETE OF 300 MM TO 550 MM THICK.

AT THE NORTHERN END, EXCAVATION WORK OF THE 750 METRES LONG PILOT TUNNEL HAS BEEN COMPLETED AND ABOUT 180 METRES OF IT HAS BEEN WIDENED TO FULL WIDTH.

MR LEUNG MIN-SUN, CHIEF ENGINEER OF PWD'S RAILWAY DIVISION SAID TODAY THAT THE BREAKTHROUGH OF THE NEW TUNNEL WAS EXPECTED TO TAKE PLACE IN APRIL AS SCHEDULED.

THE 2.3 KM DOUBLE TRACK TUNNEL WILL BE ABOUT SEVEN METRES HIGH AND JUST OVER 10 METRES WIDE, ABOUT THE SAME SIZE AS THE TWO LION ROCK TUNNELS.

ITS HEIGHT WILL BE SUFFICIENT TO ALLOW FOR THE ELECTR IF ICATION OF THE KOWLOON-CANTON RAILWAY.

+ON COMPLETION IN EARLY 1981, THE NEW TUNNEL WILL REPLACE THE EXISTING SINGLE TRACK TUNNEL, WHICH HAS BEEN IN USE SINCE 1910, + SAID MR LEUNG.

MEANWHILE, WORK IS UNDERWAY ON THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN APPROACHES TO THE TUNNEL.

MR LEUNG SAID THAT WORK ON THE SOUTHERN PORTAL OF THE TUNNEL AND THE RAILWAY EMBANKMENT HAD BEEN COMPLETED.

+CONTRACTORS ARE, AT PRESENT, LAYING TEMPORARY TRACKS TO FACILITATE THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE KCR AND MTR INTERCHANGE STATION AT KOWLOON TONG, HE SAID.

+AT THE NORTHERN APPROACH, WORK HAS JUST BEGUN ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW RAILWAY BRIDGE AND THE LAYING OF ABOUT 1 300 METRES OF RAILWAY TRACK.+

THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN APPROACHES ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME OPERATIONAL TOGETHER WITH THE TUNNEL ITSELF EARLY NEXT YEAR.

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