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Stonecutters Bridge, with a span of over 1,000 metres, will be part of Hong Kong's challenging infrastructure to be constructed in the new millennium, said the Director of Highways, Mr Y.C. Lo.

Stonecutters Bridge will straddle the Rambler Channel at the entrance to the busy Kwai Chung Container Port. When completed in 2007, it will likely become the longest span cable-stayed bridge in the world.

Together with the proposed Tsing Lung Bridge, a major element of Route 10 - North Lantau to Yuen Long Highway, Stonecutters Bridge is a continuation of building for the future of Hong Kong. The completion of these mega projects will further enhance Hong Kong's strategic road network for cross-boundary traffic.

Announcing the results of the Stonecutters Bridge Design Competition at the prize presentation ceremony this (September 15) morning, Mr Lo said the completion of the competition was a milestone in the development of this important piece of infrastructure.

The Stonecutters Bridge Design Competition's evaluation committees and Executive Panel, which comprise both local and overseas renowned experts, have picked out the winning design amongst the five finalists.

It will be the blueprint for further design development of the bridge.

"The purpose of the competition is to establish a reference scheme which will make Stonecutters Bridge stand out among the world's long span bridges and become a fitting landmark in the harbour and a gateway to the port," said the Director of Highways.

He was also glad to see that the competition had provided a forum of exchange on elegant and leading edge design concepts among bridge designers and experts from all over the world.

Mr Lo highlighted that the bridge would help maintain Hong Kong as a vibrant and important centre of international trade, and make the landscape of Hong Kong more fascinating.

He said: "We have successfully completed three long span bridges within the last 10 years: Tsing Ma Bridge, Kap Shui Mun Bridge and Ting Kau Bridge.

"These bridges provide convenience for people and help sustain continuous development of the economy of Hong Kong.

"They not only serve their basic function of being part of the highway network, but also become part of the Hong Kong landscape.

"During the new millennium, we will have more and more challenging infrastructure to be constructed. Stonecutters Bridge will be part of that infrastructure.

"When Stonecutters Bridge is completed, we shall have a new landmark structure in Hong Kong," he added.

The Stonecutters Bridge Design Competition commenced in November last year and attracted overwhelming responses from world-renowned bridge engineers and architects.

Sixteen of the 31 local and overseas teams who expressed interest to participate in the competition were prequalified to take part in Stage 1 of the competition. A total of 27 design proposals were received.

After taking into account the technical feasibility and aesthetic value of the bridge design submissions, the evaluation committees chose five design proposals to enter Stage 2 of the competition.

Mr Lo, who was also the Chairman of the Executive Panel, said it was extremely difficult to select the winners amongst the five finalists.

He expressed gratitude to members of the evaluation committees and Executive Panel for their expert advice.

He also thanked participants of the competition who showed great support of the event and put forward the most innovative and state-of-the-art designs.

The results of the Stonecutters Bridge Design Competition are as follows:

Winner:

A team comprising

- Halcrow Group Limited

- Flint & Neill Partnership

- Dissing + Weitling

- Shanghai Municipal Engineering Design Institute

First runner-up:

Scott Wilson - Leonhardt Andra J.V. Team comprising

- Scott Wilson (Hong Kong) Ltd

- Leonhardt Andra und Partners

- Planungsgruppe Professor Laage

- Eagle Lyon Pope Associates Port & Marine Consultants

- Scott Wilson Pavement Engineering Ltd

- Lightsource International (Asia) Ltd

- Moonlighting

Second runner-up:

T.Y. Lin International in association with

- Gensler Architecture Design & Planning Worldwide

- H.M. Brandston & Partners

Honourable mentions:

1. Consulting KORTES Ltd in association with Finnroad Ltd

2. HNTB Team comprising

- HNTB Corporation

- Humen Engineering Consultants Ltd

- Design Institute of Highway Survey & Planning of Guangdong

- Earth-Tech, Inc

- Guy Nordenson and Associates

- Wolf Architecture

Details of the competition results as well as photo montages of the bridge design proposals are now available at Highways Department's home page (http://www.hyd.gov.hk/).

Stonecutters Bridge is the major component of the Route 9 (Tsing Yi - Cheung Sha Wan). The estimated project cost of the route is about $17 billion (at money of the day prices), of which about $5 billion will be for the construction of the bridge.

The anticipated construction commencement date of the route will be 2002 for completion in 2007.

End/Friday, September 15, 2000

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