(e)
(f)
(g)
If Government is to appoint a consultant now to design the TSING- MA BRIDGE (as is rumoured that Motts has already got the nod) and later a contractor selected on the conventional basis, then any variation or changes in the design will mean extra costs as the contractor will justifiably have a field day to make such claims, and the Government will have no alternative but to pay them.
The famous Sydney Opera House was managed on this basis. The Danish architect Jom Utzon won the international competition in 1955 with its magnificent orange peel roofs. The project was run with a myriad of engineers, suppliers and contractors who all zealously guard their own turf. Ultimately the Opera House opened its doors 18 years later in 1973 with an 800% cost overrun. (Hong Kong has its counterparts like the Hung Hom Colisseum, Prince of Wales Hospital, the Dental Hospital and the current third University). Fortunately for the Sydney residents, the Lottery was able to pay the debt off. Unfortunately for the Hong Kong residents, our Mark 6 Lottery funds have all been earmarked for very worthy causes. In any case, Sydney Opera House is a very striking structure (though without any car parking which Sydney is only now trying to build), and Mr. Utzon won several international awards.
Should there be any delays on this TSING MA BRIDGE, the CLK AIRPORT, though completed, may have to be serviced by boats or helicopters.
A much cheaper alternative will be to built the SHAM - MA BRIDGE (850m). Though perhaps not a very glamourous assignment as it is a standard off the shelf design, this bridge is deadly effective and can be erected in three years. The bridge will cost about HK$1500M, only a fraction of the long bridge. If anything, this bridge should be built first: the very fact that this bridge can serve the CLK AIRPORT construction traffic should already warrant its implementation at the earliest stage instead of the PADS programme of Year 2011.
(h)
(i)
Since there is already another short TSING YI TING KAU BRIDGE planned for Route X, the airport traffic can make a little detour by taking TSING YI TING KAU BRIDGE, travel a short MA distance on the Tuen Mun Highway and use the SHAM
making the long bridge a luxury
-
BRIDGE onto Ma Wan, thus which Hong Kong can ill afford. (But that is probably why the consultants insists that the SHAM - MA BRIDGE should only be built in Year 2011 to ensure the long bridge will be built now, under pressure, at great expenses! Otherwise it would have missed the BRIDGE).
There is an argument that without this long bridge, there can be no rail traffic. But there are much cheaper alternatives :-
(a)
build a TSUEN WAN ROAD+RAIL BY-PASS EXTENTION along the shore front of TSUEN WAN to SHAM TSENG, a distance of 5km.
(b)
extend the TSUEN WAN MTR line to the sea front to joint this new ROAD + RAIL BY-PASS EXTENTION. A typically section is as shown in Plan No. 4
(c)
design the SHAM - MA BRIDGE to accommodate both ROAD + RAIL This way even the ROUTE X BRIDGE can be eliminated.
It is evident that the PADS solution, in its present form, is a complicated solution designed to solve a simple problem. It is unsatisfactory because:-
(1)
(2)
the solution is inherently vulnerable because the linking of Lantau with Hong Kong Kowloon is only via one single long bridge, in a typhoon area,
-
because this long bridge is such an essential component, the whole project is subject to critical paths unnecessarily. June 1996 completion date is an unrealistically optimistic one,
(3)
the reclamation scheme is highly disruptive to the community because the 150 year history of Western Kowloon will be up-rooted,
9
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.