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The Permanent Secretary for Environment, Transport and Works (Works), Mr Lo Yiu-ching, officiated at a ceremony today (October 19) to mark the breakthrough of the Eagle's Nest Tunnel. Accompanying Mr Lo at the ceremony were the Director of Highways, Mr Mak Chai-kwong; the Project Manager (Major Works), Mr Adrian Ng and the consultants and the contractors on the Eagle's Nest Tunnel project.
Mr Lo said the successful breakthrough of the Eagle's Nest Tunnel was a significant milestone in the construction of the Route 8 project. "Route 8, when fully completed at the end of 2008, will provide a direct link between the North East New Territories and our busy Container Ports at Kwai Chung and the International Airport at Chek Lap Kok," Mr Lo said. "Motorists will be able to enjoy an almost signal-free route from the North East New Territories areas such as Tai Po and Fanling to West Kowloon, Kwai Chung and the International Airport. There will be great relief to other road links between the North East New Territories and Urban Kowloon."
Mr Lo expected that the section of Route 8 between Cheung Sha Wan and Sha Tin, including the Eagle's Nest Tunnel would be completed in about mid-2007. This section of the road would be the first stage of the Route 8 to be opened and it will dramatically reduce the travelling time between Sha Tin and Cheung Sha Wan by half.
"The Eagle's Nest Tunnel is an impressive piece of engineering work and the whole undertaking was carried out with the minimum of nuisance and disturbance to the public," Mr Lo said. "The result of good planning and execution of the works means that nearly 2 million tonnes of excavated rock were either reused on other projects or processed into aggregates." He said that was testament to the efforts of all concerned in the contract in the management of construction waste.
The Eagle's Nest Tunnel and Associated Works is a Highways Department contract. It includes the construction of two 2.1 km-long three-lane tunnels with lighting and ventilation and other electrical and mechanical installations, 500 metres of approach roads in Butterfly Valley, an administration building at the toll plaza at Sha Tin Valley and two portal buildings, and the associated drainage, sewerage, geotechnical and landscaping works. The contractor for this tunnel contract is Leighton Kumagai Joint Venture. The works are supervised by Maunsell Hyder Joint Venture on behalf of the Highways Department. The contract cost is about $1.8 billion.
Ends/Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Issued at HKT 18:22
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