1 Vehicle quotas could limit bridge traffic
Anita Lam, SCMP, May 15, 2008

Traffic on the HK$40 billion bridge linking Hong Kong with Zhuhai and Macau will be limited to about 14,000 vehicles per day, or some 69,200 visitors, when completed in 2016 if the quota system on cross-border drivers remains unchanged.

The government's projection, described by a lawmaker as ridiculous, was revealed for the first time yesterday. The administration announced in March that a deal had been reached on the project.

"That must be a joke. Any major road in Hong Kong handles much more traffic than that. How much would we stand to lose at such a low traffic volume?" said Democratic Party legislator Lee Wing-tat. "Not to mention [that] we are paying the largest portion of the costs."

After investment from the private sector is factored out, the governments of Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau contributed 50.2 per cent, 35.1 per cent and 14.7 per cent of the construction costs respectively.

However, the Transport and Housing Bureau maintains the traffic flow numbers represent a conservative estimate, made under the assumption that the current quota system will not be relaxed. But it wrote in a paper submitted to the Legislative Council transport panel yesterday that the quota system was likely to be relaxed and that the volume of traffic would surpass the estimate. The paper will be under discussion at a transport panel meeting tomorrow.

The cross-border vehicle licence quota for private cars is about 20,000, and for cargo trucks about 18,000.

The government said earlier that it was talking with authorities in Guangzhou and Macau to determine whether drivers without cross-border licences could use the bridge. They could be allowed to park at car parks at the borders.

In the paper, the bureau justifies the cost-sharing ratio, which was calculated on a cost-to-benefit principle, saying it would dramatically cut travelling time from Zhuhai to Chek Lap Kok airport and the Kwai Chung port terminals by 80 per cent and 60 per cent respectively.

"The absence of a direct road link from Hong Kong to Zhuhai has been perceived as one of the reasons why Hong Kong investment in the Pearl River Delta has been relatively low compared to that on the east bank," the document read.

According to a feasibility study by the China Highway Planning and Design Institute, freight traffic from Hong Kong to Zhuhai, Jiangmen and Zhongshan will rise nearly six-fold after the bridge opens, from an annual 16 million tonnes in 2005 to 93 million tonnes in 2035.

The bureau said the bridge would encourage Hong Kong investors to move their mainland factories and businesses to the west side of the Pearl River Delta, where they could enjoy lower labour and land costs.

The bridge is also expected to ease access to the airports in Hong Kong and Zhuhai by allowing passengers on international flights in Hong Kong to transit quickly to the mainland via Zhuhai airport. The government is to seek Legco's approval for HK$133.5 million to pay for preliminary work and designs.

2 Dredging to make way for mega ships
Charlotte So, SCMP, May 15, 2008

Kwai Tsing Container Terminals, the world's third-busiest port, is to carry out a massive dredging operation to accommodate a new generation of mega vessels, a senior official from the Transport and Housing Bureau said yesterday.

But the proposed four-year timetable is a major disappointment for some shipping lines that have taken delivery of huge new vessels with a capacity to carry 13,000 20-foot containers.

The dredging, which will not be completed until 2012, will deepen the channel, as well as the basin, to 17 metres from 15.5 metres.

"Currently, a 13,000 teu [20-foot equivalent unit] vessel, with a draft of 16 metres, can't get access to the berth at Kwai Tsing unless it waits for the tides," Peter Ng, general manager for CMA CGM & ANL (Hong Kong), said yesterday.

"It will cause trouble for the shipping companies and some of the shipments would leave Hong Kong."

They were likely to go to Nansha port at the mouth of the Pearl River, which was planning to dredge its sea basin to 19 metres from 15 metres in three years, Zheng Tianxiang, Sun Yat-san University professor, said yesterday.

Janice Tse Siu-wa, deputy secretary for transport and housing, said: "We have to conduct a technical feasibility study and an environmental impact assessment before the dredging project can take place. It [2012] is not too late as we can still accommodate most of the container ships."

An industry veteran said every additional centimetre of water depth translated into 240 tonnes of added shipments a year. The Hong Kong government will pay for the dredging of the channel leading to the port, while port operators will pay for dredging in front of the terminals.

"We should do the dredging as soon as possible," said Alan Lee Yiu-kwong, chairman of the Hong Kong Container Terminal Operators Association. "Or else shipping lines will speed up to reshuffle their vessels to Yantian or other ports in Shenzhen ."