EXPRESSWAYS TO

THE NEW AIRPORT OF HONG KONG

DECISION TO BUILD THE NEW AIRPORT

In October 1989, the then government of Hong Kong decided to build the new airport at Chek Lap Kok to replace the original Kai Tak International Airport. Together with other associated projects, they were placed under an ¨Airport Core Programme (ACP)〃. The target was to have all the ACP projects completed by year 1997. Below shows a layout of this ambitious programme.

IMPORTANCE OF THE NEW AIRPORT

The Kai Tak Airport had been in operation since 1936. To meet the fast growing air traffic, it had undergone six stages of major expansion. The last stage was actually carried out in parallel with the development works for the new airport. In year 1994, upon completion of the last stage of expansion, Kai Tak Airport had a design capacity of handling 24 million passengers per annum. In actual fact, through management means, the use of the Kai Tak Airport was stretched beyond its limit to handle 29.5 million passengers per annum in year 1996.

Kai Tak Airport

Kai Tak Airport, which was situated within the urban area, could not undergo any further major expansion to meet the ever-increasing air traffic, and the need for a replacement airport was obvious. A new airport would bring about other social and economic benefits. The benefits to be derived from the new airport are summarized below:-

ž A new international airport operatable around-the-clock and an environment free of aircraft noise for 380,000 people living under the Kai Tak flight path

As Kai Tak was situated in the urban area, there were 380,000 people living directly under its flight path. Hence the operation of Kai Tak had to be suspended daily from mid-night to early morning to avoid causing them intolerable nuisance. After moving to Chek Lap Kok, such problems could be overcome and hence the new airport could operate around-the-clock.

ž 34 kilometres of new highways and railway to provide a high-speed link between the urban area and the airport

Since Chek Lap Kok is situated at the originally undeveloped northern shore of the Lantau Island, a new road and rail link was required in order to provide high-speed link with the urban area. Such high-speed link would have been impossible for the Kai Tak Airport, which is surrounded by already saturated road network. The roads to the new airport also added capacity to the overall road network, thus relieving capacity problems in some congested areas.

ž A third cross-harbour road tunnel

Along the road link to the new airport is the badly needed third cross-harbour road tunnel connecting Hong Kong Island with Kowloon. This provided the immediately required extra capacity to relieve the acute situation of the two existing heavily over-loaded cross-harbour tunnels.

ž The world…s longest road-rail suspension bridge, forming part of the first road link to Lantau Island

Along this new road link to the airport is the Lantau Link, which in fact is the first road link to connect Lantau Island, the largest island of Hong Kong, with the urban area. On the Lantau Link is a suspension bridge, the Tsing Ma Bridge, which is the world…s longest road-rail suspension bridge.

ž Hong Kong…s ninth new town at Tung Chung on north Lantau

The first new road access to the Lantau Island also opened up the opportunity to develop this large outlying island. The Tung Chung new town is a new town immediately next to the Chek Lap Kok Airport.

ž Two major reclamations in West Kowloon and Central District, and the possibility to redevelop the replaced Kai Tak Airport

Furthermore, in order to build the new road and rail link, there were two major reclamations required. The land obtained, together with the land released after closing the Kai Tak Airport, provided cure to solve the acute land shortage problem of Hong Kong.

AIRPORT ECONOMICS

The best way to express the benefits derivable from the new airport is perhaps in terms of dollars. An economic appraisal study was conducted in year 1989 covering only those costs and benefits associated with the new airport and its associated projects which could be readily expressed in monetary terms, including:-

ž Capital costs

ž Operating costs

ž Transport user and road accident costs

ž Disadvantages to Hong Kong of not being able to cater for the projected air passenger traffic

After deducting the costs, it was estimated that by year 2006, a total of HK$27 to HK$56 billion (in 1988 prices and 1US$=7.8HK$) net benefit could be obtainable by building the new airport.

EXPRESSWAYS TO THE NEW AIRPORT

PROJECT SCOPE

As said new roads were included under the ACP to serve the new airport. Other than these, two major projects that connect the ACP road network with the northwest New Territories, Ting Kau Bridge and the Route 3 (Country Park Section), were implemented independently of the ACP. The function of the two added roads is to provide a high speed, direct access between the northwest New Territories with the new airport as well as the urban area.

Since the 45km expressways to the new airport was an enormous piece of infrastructure development work, it had to be divided into quite a number of smaller, manageable projects, namely the Western Harbour Crossing, West Kowloon Expressway, Route 3 (Kwai Chung & Tsing Yi Sections), Lantau Link comprising the Tsing Ma Bridge and the Kap Shui Mun Bridge, North Lantau Expressway, Ting Kau Bridge and the Route 3 (Country Park Section). All these projects are highlighted and shown in the plan below.

PROJECT COST & FINANCING

The cost to implement the various expressway projects are listed in the table below:

Project	Cost (HK$ billion in money of the day/outturn prices)
Western Harbour Crossing	6.0
West Kowloon Expressway	3.1
Route 3 (Kwai Chung & Tsing Yi Sections)	4.1
Lantau Link	11.0
North Lantau Expressway	7.8
Ting Kau Bridge	1.7
Route 3 (Country Park Section)	7.3
Total	41.0

Basically the funds came from public money. However, where possible, funds from private sources were utilized. Two of the projects, Western Harbour Crossing and the Route 3 (Country Park Section), were employing this strategy. Essentially these two projects were built under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) arrangement. Through BOT, the funding for the construction came from private companies, who own the completed works, and earn returns by imposing car tolls. The operation of the roads built under BOT will last for a period of 30 years, after which the ownership as well as the operation of the roads will have to be handed back to the government.

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION HIGHLIGHTS

Along the expressways to the new airport, the most spectacular features are the three big bridges. The Tsing Ma Bridge connects Tsing Yi with Ma Wan, Kap Shui Mun Bridge continues from Ma Wan to Lantau Island, while the Ting Kau Bridge goes in the northward direction and connects Tsing Yi with Ting Kau.

Both Ting Kau and Kap Shui Mun bridges are cable-stayed bridges. Kap Shui Mun Bridge has two towers with a span of 430 metres in between, while Ting Kau Bridge has three towers, spacing at 448 metres and 475 metres apart. The total length of the Ting Kau Bridge is 1,177 metres, making it the longest three tower cable-stayed bridge in the world. On the other hand, Tsing Ma Bridge is a suspension bridge, which, like the Kap Shui Mun Bridge, forms part of the Lantau Link. Tsing Ma Bridge is a road-rail combined bridge. On the top deck is a dual 3-lane carriageway, while the lower deck provides an extra lane for emergency purpose, as well as room for accommodation of the railway to the new airport. The suspension bridge has a main span of 1,377 metres, making it the world…s longest road-rail suspension bridge. Below is a photo showing these three bridges.

The Tsing Ma Bridge, Kap Shui Mun Bridge and Ting Kau Bridge

Another major component are the tunnels. Along these expressways there are three tunnels. All these tunnels are dual 3-lane tunnels, which are the first of their kind in Hong Kong. Two are bore tunnels. One of the tunnel forms part of the Route 3 (Country Park Section), while the other forms part of the Route 3 (Kwai Chung & Tsing Yi Sections). The third tunnel, the Western Harbour Crossing, is however formed by submersed tubes. Typical sections of the bore tunnels and submersed tubes are shown below.

Typical Section of Submersed Tubes

Typical Section of Bored Tunnel

Other than the bridges and tunnels are the roads, either on viaducts or at-grade. Along the North Lantau Expressway is a long stretch of mostly at-grade road measuring 12.5km long. Most of its length is over reclamation of the foreshore or within cuttings through the rugged coastline. On the other hand, the Route 3 (Tsing Yi & Kwai Chung Sections) and the West Kowloon Expressway are mostly on viaducts. The tricky parts are the viaducts over the existing roads and sea channel. In order not to disturb existing traffic underneath, the viaducts were constructed by employing specialized technique. Photos of the roads at grade or on viaduct are shown below.

North Lantau Expressway

Route 3 (Tsing Yi & Kwai Chung Sections)

West Kowloon Expressway

More details of the various projects are given by clicking on the appropriate projects in the layout plan under the section ¨PROJECT SCOPE〃 above.

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

TIMELINE

The construction periods for the various projects are tabulated below:

Project	Construction start	Construction end
Western Harbour Crossing	1993	1997
West Kowloon Expressway	1993	1997
Route 3 (Kwai Chung & Tsing Yi Sections)	1993	1997
Lantau Link	1992	1997
North Lantau Expressway	1992	1997
Ting Kau Bridge	1995	1998
Route 3 (Country Park Section)	1995	1998

It can be seen that the expressways falling under the ACP categories were completed in year 1997, in line with the wish expressed in the decision made in year 1989.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION

The successfulness to complete ACP expressway projects on time relied heavily on the ability of the project management staff. Basically, day-to-day management was in the hands of the project management offices within the Highways Department of the Hong Kong Government. Because of the importance of the ACP projects, the programme was monitored by special organizations set up within the government, which included the New Airport Works Coordination Office (NAPCO) and the Airport Development Steering Committee (ADSCOM) who was assisted by a standing executive committee Subcommittee, Airport Core Programme (SCACP).

The Hierarchy is as follows and respective roles of the above organizations as shown:

ADSCOM

Resolved and decided on significant policy issues and matters affecting more than one policy branches within the government

SCACP

Monitored and resolved all technical works-related problems that could not be resolved at lower levels, and referred unresolved issues to ADSCOM

NAPCO

Served as an executive arm of ADSCOM in monitoring status, giving guidance, resolving cross-department issues, and referring difficult problems, where necessary, to ADSCOM

Project Management Office,

Highways Department

Day-to-day management of ACP expressway projects

For the two non-ACP projects, the Ting Kau Bridge and the Route 3 (Country Park Section), project management was basically carried out within the Project Management Offices and their works monitored by the Highways Department.

PROCUREMENT STRATEGY

In order to complete the projects on time, works related to design and construction were done through outsourcing. Open, fair tender system was adopted to ensure that the best mix of expertise around the world be available to carry out the various activities.

The contract awards reflect the international nature of the ACP. People's Republic of China had gained the largest share (by value) with 31% (Hong Kong 23%, Mainland 8%) followed by: Japan (26%), UK (16%), the Netherlands (6%), France (5%), Belgium (3%), New Zealand (3%), Spain (2%), Australia (2%), the United States (2%), Germany(2%) and others (including Italy, South Africa, Sweden, Austria, Norway, Portugal and Denmark) (2%).

SITUATION SINCE IMPLEMENTATION

The total number of passengers using the Hong Kong International Airport last year reached a record high of 32 million passengers per year. It demonstrates the importance of the decision made back in year 1989 to build the new airport. The initial phase of the airport has a capacity of 35 million passengers per year, and as China is about to join the World Trade Organization, it is expected that Hong Kong, being the hub of a network of air transport services to China, will continue to grow in the number of air passengers. As such, even the new airport will have to be further developed. In fact, with the second runway already completed, and after phased completion of the supporting facilities, the airport at Chek Lap Kok can handle up to 87 million passengers per year.

Chek Lap Kok Hong Kong International Airport

Correspondingly, there are new road networks under plan to meet the future demand along the airport expressway corridor. Route 9 between Tsing Yi and Sha Tin and Route 10 between north Lantau and northwest New Territories are being implemented to fulfil this need. For details of these two future roads, please visit the following web site: http://www.hyd.gov.hk/.