Final concrete unit installed in Hong Kong harbour for undersea rail tunnel

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Photo: MTR.
Photo: MTR.
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Engineers have fitted the final concrete tunnel unit for the Sha Tin to Central rail link’s (SCL) cross harbour tunnel in Hong Kong.

The last of 11 pre-cast concrete segments was installed into the Hong Kong harbour on April 12, around 10 months after the first was installed.

Each unit weighs 23,000 tonnes and measures around 160m in length, approximately the height of a 50-storey building.


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The blue section of the graphic shows where the tunnel is being built in Victoria Harbour. Photo: Assanges.
The blue section of the graphic shows where the tunnel is being built in Victoria Harbour. Photo: Assanges.

MTR said that the remaining works for the cross harbour tunnel will follow and the final breakthrough of the tunnel is expected to take place in early 2019.

SCL will extend MTR’s East line thanks to the cross-harbour tunnel to form the North South Corridor.

The 1.7km cross harbour rail tunnel will link Hong Kong Island to the mainland once complete and help to relieve the pressure on existing cross-harbour rail sections and road traffic congestion. SCL is scheduled to open in 2021.

Photo: MTR.
Photo: MTR.

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