CHINA: MTR Corp Chief Executive Officer Lincoln Leong was among the guests at a ceremony held on September 8 to mark the breakthrough of the East-West Corridor tunnel that forms part of the Shatin – Central Link project in Hong Kong.
The 11 km tunnel of the Tai Wai – Hung Hom section was completed with the arrival of tunnel boring machine Princess Iron Fan at the site of the future Ho Man Tin station last month.
‘The construction of this strategic railway through the Lion Rock and complicated ground conditions in Wong Tai Sin and Ma Tau Wai areas has not been an easy feat’, said MTR Projects Director Philco Wong. ‘We very carefully snaked through the underground landscape within touching distance of existing railway tunnels, underground utilities and building foundations, thereby moving a significant step towards the completion of this very important railway project.’
In addition to four TBMs, work has been carried out using open excavation, mining, cut-and-cover and blasting techniques. Main construction activity began in mid-2012 and MTR reports that 77% of the overall works for the East-West Corridor have been completed. Passenger service is due to begin in 2019.
