Cheung Tsing Tunnel
Encyclopedia
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
on Tsing Yi Island, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. It is part of Tsing Kwai Highway
Tsing Kwai Highway
Tsing Kwai Highway is a section of Route 3 in Hong Kong, previously known as Route 3 - Kwai Chung Section. From its junction with West Kowloon Highway at Mei Foo Roundabout, the expressway runs in the form of a 3 km dual-4 lane viaduct atop Kwai Chung Road and Kwai Tai Road, circumscribing the...
of Route 3
Route 3 (Hong Kong)
Route 3 is a series of expressways in Hong Kong from Sai Ying Pun on the Hong Kong Island to Yuen Long in the New Territories, via Yau Ma Tei, Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi Island.From south to north, Route 3 can be divided into four parts...
. Its east end connects to Rambler Channel Bridge
Rambler Channel Bridge
Cheung Tsing Bridge, formally Rambler Channel Bridge, is a bridge on Rambler Channel in Hong Kong, connecting Cheung Ching Tunnel on Tsing Yi Island and Kwai Chung section of Tsing Kwai Highway...
and west Cheung Tsing Highway
Cheung Tsing Highway
Cheung Tsing Highway is a highway of Route 3 between Cheung Tsing Tunnel and North West Tsing Yi Interchange on Tsing Yi Island, Hong Kong. It was built as part of the Airport Core Programme together with the rest of Route 3 to provide a new highway link from North Western New Territories...
. The tunnel was opened on 1997-05-22 and is the second toll-free tunnel in Hong Kong. Its length is about 1.6 kilometres.
Construction
The tunnel was given the name "Cheung Ching" (長青) because it is beneath Cheung Ching Estate, the first public housing estatePublic housing in Hong Kong
Public housing in Hong Kong is a set of mass housing programmes through which the Government of Hong Kong provides affordable housing for lower-income residents. It is a major component of housing in Hong Kong, with nearly half of the population now residing in some form of public housing...
on the island.
Construction through the granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
of Tsing Yi Peak
Tsing Yi Peak
Tsing Yi Peak or Sam Chi Heung is a hill with three peaks occupying the southern half of the Tsing Yi Island, Hong Kong. The hill is situated on the western half of Victoria Harbour. Its peaks are good locations to observe the harbour and the channels among harbour islands...
, required explosives to get through hardness of the hill. To prevent dislodging of rocks and buildings on the surface slopes the rocks were reinforced by concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
and steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
. Although the tunnel used explosives in its construction, boring was more used as the primary digging procedure.
Management
The tunnel was managed by Tsing Ma Management Limited under Tsing Ma Control AreaTsing Ma Control Area
Tsing Ma Control Area is an area covering Lantau Link and related road networks in Hong Kong, including the Tsing Ma Bridge, Kap Shui Mun Bridge, Ma Wan Viaduct , Cheung Tsing Highway, Cheung Tsing Tunnel, Rambler Channel Bridge , Ting Kau Bridge...
, along with Tsing Ma Bridge
Tsing Ma Bridge
The Tsing Ma Bridge is a bridge in Hong Kong. It is the world's seventh-longest span suspension bridge, and was the second longest at time of completion. The bridge was named after two of the islands at its ends, namely Tsing Yi and Ma Wan . It has two decks and carries both road and rail...
, Kap Shui Mun Bridge
Kap Shui Mun Bridge
The Kap Shui Mun Bridge in Hong Kong is one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world that transports both road and railway traffic, with the upper deck for motor vehicles, and the lower deck for both vehicles and the MTR. It has a main span of 430 metres and an overall length of 750 metres...
, Ting Kau Bridge
Ting Kau Bridge
Ting Kau Bridge is a 1,177-metre long cable-stayed bridge in Hong Kong that spans from the northwest of Tsing Yi Island and Tuen Mun Road. It is adjacent to Tsing Ma Bridge which also serves as major connector between the Hong Kong International Airport on Lantau Island and the rest of Hong Kong....
, Rambler Channel Bridge
Rambler Channel Bridge
Cheung Tsing Bridge, formally Rambler Channel Bridge, is a bridge on Rambler Channel in Hong Kong, connecting Cheung Ching Tunnel on Tsing Yi Island and Kwai Chung section of Tsing Kwai Highway...
, North Lantau Highway
North Lantau Highway
North Lantau Highway is part of Route 8 of Hong Kong, linking Hong Kong International Airport and Lantau Island with the rest of the territory. It is an expressway with three lanes in each direction for its entire length with full width hard shoulders for emergencies and breakdowns...
and Tsing Kwai Highway
Tsing Kwai Highway
Tsing Kwai Highway is a section of Route 3 in Hong Kong, previously known as Route 3 - Kwai Chung Section. From its junction with West Kowloon Highway at Mei Foo Roundabout, the expressway runs in the form of a 3 km dual-4 lane viaduct atop Kwai Chung Road and Kwai Tai Road, circumscribing the...
.
The traffic of the tunnel is monitored in the buildings at both end, namely East Portal and West Portal Buildings.