Redesigned Towers Will Support Hong Kong's Newest Long-Span Crossing
Hong Kong, already home to a necklace of long-span suspension and cable-stayed bridges, is adding another to its collection. The 1.6-kilometer-long, cable-stayed Stonecutters Bridge will have a 1,018-m-long main span, slated to be the world’s second longest, to be supported from unique composite steel-and-concrete towers reaching 295 m tall. That span is scheduled to be erected next year but the project has featured controversy since its design competition, and unexpected underground conditions have followed. Hear what Arup's Bob Lind has to say in the video box below.
The $343-million dual three-lane crossing over Hong Kong’s Rambler Channel is part of a $1.7-billion, 15-km-long Route 8 highway that will link Chek Lap Kok airport on Lantau Island with the New Territories. Michael Hui, the city highway department’s chief engineer, acknowledges the debate over the need for a new highway, let alone a route that required building a very long bridge over the harbor entrance.