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1. $2.7b bridge go-ahead

2. 1.6km bridge to break record

3. Tension builds at YoHo site

1. $2.7b bridge go-ahead
Teddy Ng, The Standard 12 May 2004

It will be world's longest cable-stayed bridge - for a while anyway.

The government has decided it will spend HK$2.76 billion to build the cable-suspended bridge to ease traffic flow on the Tsing Kwai highway.

``The Stonecutters Bridge will be the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world,'' Secretary for Environment, Transport and Works Sarah Liao said.

``This is more than an engineering feat in which our engineers will no doubt take pride. This is a defining piece of architecture for Hong Kong and a reflection of the confidence of this world city to rise up to the challenges of the new millennium,'' she said.

Stonecutters Bridge will also be a top tourist attraction in addition to shortening the travel time from Sha Tin to Hong Kong International Airport, and from Hong Kong Island west to Sha Tin.

The government announced plans for the bridge yesterday after signing a contract with the Maeda-Hitachi-Yokogawa-Hsin Chong Joint Venture.

Construction work commenced last month and should be completed by the middle of 2008.

Liao said the project will create 1,400 jobs, plus another 600 related to operation and maintenance once the bridge is completed.

The bridge will form the key element of the dual three-lane Route 8 that is now under construction, and will form a strategic link between Tsing Yi and Sha Tin. It will straddle the Rambler Channel at the entrance of the Kwai Chung Container Port.

Route 8 comprises about 10 projects. Excluding Stonecutters Bridge, the government has already granted five projects to contractors at the cost of about HK$7 billion.

A feature of the bridge will be its two circular tapered mono-towers, rising to a height of about 300 metres and built on the backup land of Container Terminals 8 and 9.

The overall length of the bridge will be 1,596 metres, while the main span between the two towers will be 1,018 metres.

The main span will be the longest in the world, but only for a year or two. It will become the second longest when the Sutong bridge linking Suzhou and Nantong cities on the mainland is completed with a main span of 1,088 metres.

Director of Highways Mak Chai-kwong said there would be a viewing platform on Tsing Yi and an exhibition hall featuring the construction process. He said that when the bridge is completed, it would take only about 30 minutes to drive from Sha Tin to the airport. At present the journey takes about an hour.

In addition, the drive from Hong Kong Island west to Sha Tin will be reduced by 15 minutes to just 20 minutes.

The bridge will ease traffic on Tsing Kwai highway which is now used by container trucks going to or from Kwai Chung Container Port.

It is estimated that about 178,000 vehicles use the highway each day.

Mak said the bridge will reduce the highway traffic to just 130,000 vehicles each day.

``It is strategic in that it will provide an uninterrupted road network from New Territories north-east [Sha Tin] all the way to the airport. Because of its connection to the container terminal, it will also help trucks proceeding to container terminals eight and nine,'' Mak said.

Liao said the project would further enhance Hong Kong as an important international logistics hub and in its role as a world-class city.

Hong Kong Logistics Association executive vice-president Anthony Wong welcomed the project.

``The logistics industry requires smooth traffic. We welcome such infrastructure,'' he said.

With the building of Stonecutters Bridge and the Sutong Bridge, China will have six of the world's top 10 cable-suspended bridges.

2. 1.6km bridge to break record
JOSEPH LO, SCMP 12 May 2004

Hong Kong plans to build the world's longest cable-stayed bridge - a 1.6km expanse from Stonecutters Island to Tsing Yi - due for completion in 2008.

Hailed as an important future landmark for the city, the government yesterday awarded the $2.76 billion contract to build the bridge to a consortium of construction companies including three Japanese firms and Hsin Chong Construction, a local company.

Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Sarah Liao Sau-tung, said Stonecutters Bridge, standing 300 metres at its highest point, would be more than an engineering feat.

"This is a defining piece of architecture for Hong Kong," Ms Liao said.

The new six-lane bridge will serve as a crucial road link to connect the eastern New Territories with Chek Lap Kok airport and North Lantau.

It will also provide a link between container terminals 8 and 9 and the Western Shenzhen Corridor, which is being built to connect Shekou in Shenzhen and Tuen Mun.

The bridge is also part of the new Route 8 expressway, which will connect the Lantau Link, the West Kowloon expressway and Cheung Sha Wan.

The $7.1 billion Route 8 project will create 1,400 jobs, including 600 full-time positions for ongoing management and maintenance.

Ms Liao said the new project would "further enhance Hong Kong as an important international logistics and transportation hub".

"There will be faster access from the border to the container terminals and the airport," she said.

Stonecutters Bridge will beat the Tatara Bridge in Japan, which is 1.48km long, for the title of the world's longest cable-stayed bridge.

The bridge will cross the Rambler Channel and link with the Tsing Ma Bridge - the world's longest duel-use suspension bridge - through the Nam Wan Tunnel and Tsing Yi viaduct sections of the Route 8 expressway.

Director of Highways Mak Chai-kwong said a car journey from Sha Tin to Chek Lap Kok would be reduced from about an hour to 35 minutes once Route 8 was completed.

An international design competition was held in 2000 to select the design for Stonecutters Bridge.

Plans for the bridge and Route 8, then known as Route 9, were first mooted in 1997.

At the time, a government study said a new expressway would have to be constructed between Tsing Yi and Kowloon to relieve the massive traffic congestion projections for the then newly opened Kwai Chung viaduct.

The study had said the traffic forecasts indicated that the Route 3 Kwai Chung viaduct would be overloaded by 30 per cent in 2006.

3. Tension builds at YoHo site
PEGGY SITO, SCMP 12 May 2004

Tensions have intensified between villagers and the developer of YoHo Town in Yuen Long, sparking concerns that construction of the mega-residential development may be delayed.

In the latest clash between property developers and rural residents in the urbanisation process under way in the New Territories, angry villagers in Yuen Long have threatened to block the construction of the second phase of Sun Hung Kai Properties' (SHKP) YoHo Town development.

The villagers say the project could have created serious environmental consequences, and may even carry bad fung shui.

"The high-rise residential blocks are being built just in front of the village houses," said Leung Fuk-yuen, chairman of the Shap Pat Heung rural committee. "Those blocks are like joss sticks. They make the villagers feel uncomfortable."

The committee represents 27 villages in Yuen Long, including the two affected ones, Sheung Yau Tin Tsuen and Ha Yau Tin Tsuen.

Mr Leung complained that construction work on YoHo Town was already causing annoyance in the form of a crack noted in the nearby Shap Pat Heung rural committee building.

He said the villagers were hoping the developer would make an effort to preserve the living environment.

About 2,000 villagers and residents are affected by the project, village representatives said.

According to the Planning Department, the three-phase development will provide more than 8,000 flats.

The SHKP project covers 28 high-rise towers. Almost all the 2,200 units in the first phase have been sold since marketing commenced in July last year. The first phase will be handed over to the buyers in the fourth quarter of this year. Work on the foundations of the second phase, located next to the Shap Pat Heung rural committee office, is under way.

Subject to the final design, the second phase will comprise 11 towers of 2,900 flats. The 318,000 square foot site occupies what was once agricultural land.

The initial plan for phase three of YoHo Town comprised nine blocks of 3,200 units next to the Yuen Long station on the West Rail.

Wong Kim-hong, a Ha Yau Tin Tsuen representative, said the developer had promised to improve the drainage in the villages. Even though it was not part of the YoHo Town project, drainage became a serious problem after SHKP completed a previous project, Grand del Sol, in the neighbourhood, he said.

Mr Wong said the villagers had supported the development plan when the government invited them to join the consultation in 1997.

"The initial proposal was a development with just 12-storey buildings but, after getting the approval of the Town Planning Board, the developers have started building blocks that are more than 30 storeys high," he said.

A government planner said the Town Planning Board had rezoned the project in September 1998, upgrading it from a medium- to a high-rise project, because it was right next to transport facilities.

"The government is facing pressure to attract passengers to its West Rail line," said Eddie Wong Tak-keung, deputy chairman of the Shap Pat Hueng rural committee. "They must back the developers' proposal to build high-rise blocks. But no one seems concerned about the villagers and whether they benefit. We are not unreasonable people. We just want fair treatment."

Lee Pak-wai, a Sheung Yau Tin Tsuen representative, said the villagers would organise an intensified protest to block the construction if discussions with the developer did not yield satisfactory results.

Last month, more than 100 villagers protested against the second phase development, and blocked construction work. They also handed in petitions at the Town Planning Board's office in North Point and at SHKP's headquarters in Wan Chai.

SHKP claims that every aspect of the development fully complied with applicable laws and regulations, and that the government had conducted extensive consultations before giving the project the green light.

An SHKP spokesperson said in letter that the area's drainage problem was a result of soil refilling on sites not owned by the developer.

"The problems are completely unrelated to our development," the letter said.

The company also rejected claims it had agreed to modify the village drainage system or rebuild the Shap Pat Heung rural committee building.

SHKP added that the issue would not discourage the company from making plans to develop the New Territories.

"With Yuen Long's prime location relative to the mainland, we believe the area has great growth potential, so we will continue to participate in developing Yuen Long and the New Territories," the letter said.

Eddie Hui Chi-man, an associate professor in Hong Kong Polytechnic University's building and real estate department, said neither party in the dispute was "absolutely right or absolutely wrong".

He said negotiation was "the only way" to resolve the conflict.

Paying the price

Yuen Long villagers claim their living environment has been spoilt by the YoHo Town development.

Lee Yat-pui, 72: The high-rise towers are like several joss sticks standing in front of us. They are so close to us it adversely affects our fung shui.

Lee Chi-kai, 41: We once had nice green scenery. We did not need to install air-conditioners or fans as our place was airy. But those were the good old days. We have installed air-conditioners because the temperature has surged since the high-rise towers were built in front of our homes. Drainage has become a serious problem. On rainy days, water floods into our home.

Mrs Lee, 81: I cover all my furniture since the YoHo Town [phase one] was built. Now the buildings are almost completed but dust still spreads. I live alone in the house and am too old to clean it all the time. What can I do? My life has been affected.