Hong Kong Central and Wan Chai Bypass: Overcoming Challenges 9 Years to Complete Driving Saves 25 Minutes

Hong Kong, December 29 (China News Service) (Reporter Wang Jiacheng) "The original driving time from Central to North Point took 30 minutes, and after the Central and Wan Chai bypasses were opened, it only took 5 minutes, which was reduced by 25 minutes, which greatly facilitated the transportation of citizens." Li Jiyu, head of the tunnel project in Hong Kong's Central and Wan Chai Bypass No. 8 connecting section, said in an interview with China News Agency.

On the 29th, the "Spirit of the Times Shines on the River" of the big country to build a major people's livelihood project in Hong Kong visited Central and Wan Chai bypass. Unlike other programs, this time the visit was almost done on the bus. The reporter began to time the tunnel at 10:16 a.m. from the Linshi Street Overpass in Central, and at less than 10:21 a.m. he had left the tunnel and reached the North Point East Corridor.

The Central and Wan Chai Bypass Project started in January 2010 and was completed and opened to traffic in January 2019, running from underground through Central, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay and North Point, connecting the core business districts of Hong Kong Island, effectively alleviating the traffic congestion problem on Hong Kong Island and injecting new impetus into the sustainable development of Hong Kong's economy.

However, because it is completely at the core, there are many difficult problems in construction that need to be solved. The tunnel that needs to be dug through the traffic artery is one of the difficulties. The tunnel is about 160 meters long and about 50 meters wide, and crosses about 20 meters below the Hung Hom Submarine Tunnel. The Hung Hom Undersea Tunnel is the busiest traffic tunnel in Hong Kong, with about 120,000 traffic times a day.

Chen Weixiong, general manager of the civil engineering department of China State Construction International Group, said that since the original data of the Hung Hom tunnel had long been lost, the engineering team needed to conduct systematic surveys and measurements again, which greatly increased the difficulty of construction.

"In the past, hung hom tunnels had rivets anchored in the stones, but the details are no longer available." Recalling this great challenge, Chan Wai Hung still remembers it vividly.

He said that during the construction, he was very worried about hitting the rivets, and the Hong Kong SAR government also reminded that the project must ensure that the Hung Hom Tunnel would not float, and the rivets at that time were to hold the tunnel to prevent it from floating, once the tunnel floated, the traffic from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island would be congested. "There was a special provision at the time that we could not hurt the rivets. So when we do it, we use a lot of measures, and the difficulty is here. ”

After overcoming many difficulties, the Central and Wan Chai bypasses took nine years to finally open to traffic. In the more than two years since the opening of the traffic, the project has also handed over a satisfactory report card.

In this regard, Hu Guangbo, chief engineer of the Main Works Division of the Highways Department of the HKSAR Government, cited a string of data. According to the current records, the Central and Wan Chai bypasses can divert about 20% of the traffic on average every morning and about 17% in the evening. The average daily traffic volume of the detour was 54,200 in 2019 and 48,000 in 2020. "This project has effectively diverted the traffic flow of the main roads in the area and alleviated the traffic congestion problem in the area." He said. (End)

Source: China News Network