TNAG-2792-FCO40-4031-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-China-1993 — Page 183

i

Option.

2

I

south,

Option B starts from Waisha but then turns passing through Jinding and Tangjia before crossing the Jinxing waterway to Qiao island. The rest of the line follows that of Option A.

Option C follows the line taken by Option B until it reaches Tangjia. It then crosses the Denglong waterway and Lingding waterway to land at the East Point of Inner Lingding island without passing through the Qiao island. From the East Point, this line crosses the Fanshi waterway to land at Black Point and terminates at Tuen Mun.

COMPARISON OF VARIOUS OPTIONS

Options A, B and C

the shortest

Option A has a total length of 49.4 km of all the options. However, as the line passes through the central part of Qiao island, a large tract of farmland would be resumed while many houses would be demolished, to the disadvantage of the island in terms of development. This line also runs along the southwestern coast of Inner Lingding island which is composed of steep terrain and sandy beaches. The engineering work involved here would be too tremendous and would have adverse impact on the natural environment.

Option B has the advantage of constructing a bridge of the shortest length spanning from Tangjia to the southern tip of Qiao. In fact,

fact, construction of the Tangjia-Qiao Bridge has already commenced. However, it would impose too heavy a traffic burden on the internal road network of Zhuhai which extends from Waisha to Tangjia.

Option C has already been dropped because it would involve the construction of a very long bridge which does not pass through Qiao island, to the disadvantage of the island's development prospect.

Northern Line Option

Passing through the northern tips of Qiao and Inner Lingding islands would be beneficial to the development of the two islands without causing havoc to the valuable farmland, houses and natural environment of the central areas. Moreover, there is no hurry to construct the bridge linking Waisha and Qiao because the Tangjia-Qiao Bridge, now under construction, can be used during the initial stage.

The only disadvantage of this alignment is the length of the bridge which is 1.4 km longer than the Southern Line Option.