XN000022-1995-05-30 — Page 3

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"At 12.30 pm, the first deck section was successfully lifted into position using a specially made crane," said Mr Yeung.

The main span will be erected section by section. Each section will be bolted to the next and held in position by a pair of cables connected to the upper section of the bridge tower. The section will be balanced by fixing a second pair of cables to the side span on the other side of the tower.

Mr Yeung said the construction of the main span will take about 11 months. During this period the Kap Shui Mun Channel will be closed for one day a week to facilitate the works. Marine traffic will be diverted to the Ma Wan Channel.

"The Highways Department is liaising closely with the contractor, the Marine Department and the Marine Police to minimise the effect on marine traffic," he said.

Over half of the construction work on the Kap Shui Mun Bridge has been completed and the bridge is on schedule for completion in May 1997, said Mr Yeung.

"When completed, the Kap Shui Mun Bridge will be 820 metres long with a cable-stayed main span stretching 430 metres across the channel between Lantau and Ma Wan.

"It will be Hong Kong's first cable-stayed road bridge as well as the world's longest span cable-stayed bridge carrying both road and rail traffic," he said.

The Kap Shui Mun Bridge and the viaduct on Ma Wan are being built by the Kumagai-Maeda-Yokogawa-Hitachi Joint Venture under a $1.64 billion design and construct contract awarded by the Highways Department in November 1992.

Together with the 2.2 kilometre long Tsing Ma suspension bridge, it will form part of the Lantau Fixed Crossing on the 34 kilometre long highway network of the Airport Core Programme linking the new airport at Chek Lap Kok and Tung Chung new town to Kowloon and Hong Kong.

End/Tuesday, May 30, 1995