This Month's stories:

Asia— Hong Kong, Philippines and South Korea

By Peter Reina in London

Hong Kong Linking Up With Mainland China Rail

Engineers in Hong Kong are due to start tunneling this month on the largest contract of the East Rail line extension to the mainland China border. The French-owned contractor on the $345-million design-build job will use an 8.75-m-dia, earth-pressure-balance TBM to mine 3.2-km-long twin parallel tunnels under Kowloon’s Long Valley. Cut and cover approaches will complete the 5.2-km tunnel.

Having won the design-build contract last October from Kowloon Canton Railway Corp. (KCRC), the Dragages (HK) Joint Venture began detailed design late last year. The joint venture comprises locally based Dragages et Travaux Publics (HK) Ltd. and Bouygues Travaux Publics S.A., both part of the same group. Its lead designer is the local office of Ove Arup & Partner, while Atkins China Ltd. is the joint venture’s independent peer review engineer.

Approved by the region’s government in June 2002, the new 7.4-km-long Lok Ma Chau Spur Line will deviate from the existing East Rail in the new tunnel near Sheung Shui Ma Chau Station. It will rise on a viaduct to terminate at Lok Ma Chau Station, on China’s border. Due to open by 2007, the extension is the last of three additions to the same line, together valued at $3.5 billion. The first two will open next year.

Dragages claims to have introduced earth pressure balance tunneling technology to Hong Kong in an earlier joint venture. It imported a TBM three years ago for the now-completed 1.8-km driven section of the twin Kwai Tsing Tunnel on KCRC’s West Rail project. Atkins China was the lead designer on that design-build job.

Back to top

Philippines Expands Major Expressway

Design is almost completed for a $140-million upgrade of the Philippines’ North Luzon Expressway. Since signing the design-build contract over two years ago with Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC), Hong Kong-based Leighton Contractors (Asia) Ltd. has done all of the preparatory work and engineering while land acquisitions were completed.

The project will improve 84 km of the existing expressway between Quezon City, Metro Manila and Sta. Ines in Pampanga and add an additional 110-km of new lanes. Included in the work is construction of 16 bridges, interchanges, toll plazas and operations and maintenance elements. Leighton is handling construction and has teamed with the local office of Maunsell Group as its designer. Privately owned MNTC is financing the project and will operate it for nearly 30 years. The project is scheduled for completion in February 2005.

Back to top

South Korea Pushing $1.8 Billion In Privately Financed Bridge And Tunnel Contracts

Two major design-build jobs valued at about $900 million each are now being launched with private financing in South Korea. Danish engineers are in early stages of work on the 8.2-km road link between Busan and Geoje Island and a British contractor aims to complete financing for the 10.3-km Incheon Second Airport Toll Bridge next year when the construction is scheduled to start.

“We are working at full speed,” says Klaus Ostenfled, chief executive officer of designer COWI A.S., Copenhagen. COWI won the design lead for both the tunnel and bridge sections of the Busan-Geoje project. The designers are working for the project contractor Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd., Seoul, which also leads a group financing the work. The link includes a 3.4-km sunken tube tunnel and two cable-stayed bridges.

At the opposite end of the country near Seoul, the Incheon job is all above water with a cable-stayed main span. Amec plc London controls a joint venture with Incheon City to finance, build and operate the crossing. Buckland & Taylor Ltd., North Vancouver, Canada, did outline design for Amec and may have continuing involvement in construction. Amec will build the bridge under a design-build contract, while retaining overall responsibility, says spokesman Nick Welsh.

Back to top