Construction of MTR Shatin to Central Link – Contract No. 1128 : Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter to Admiralty Tunnels

A joint venture of Dragages Hong Kong and Bouygues Travaux Publics was awarded a HK$5.2 billion contract by the MTR Corporation for the construction of the Shatin to Central Link – Contract No. 1128: Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter to Admiralty Tunnels. This is one of the most technically challenging tunnel projects currently under construction in Hong Kong.

Contract No. 1128 is part of a 6km extension of the on-going Shatin to Central Link (SCL) from Kowloon to the SCL’s city hub on Hong Kong Island. The main scope of the project is to construct the Eastern Tunnels and Western Tunnels by Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). The two Eastern Tunnels, each approximately 680m long, run from the South Ventilation Building to the future SCL Exhibition Station. The two Western Tunnels, each some 480m long, will be bored between Fenwick Pier Emergency Egress Point to the existing MTR Admiralty Station. To cope with the complex geological conditions along the two routes, two different types of TBMs will be employed for excavation, namely a slurry TBM and an Earth Pressure Balanced (EPB) TBM. To pave the way for construction of the South Ventilation Building, the existing Police Officer Club (POC) will be demolished. Reprovisioning of the new POC, on top of the South Ventilation Building, is included in the contract’s major works.

Both the Eastern and Western Tunnels will go through some of the busiest and most heavily built-up areas of Hong Kong. These tunnels will stretch beneath the city’s tourism hotspots and business districts, passing a great number of shopping malls, hotels and office towers. To construct these tunnels beneath the dynamic heart of the city will present great challenges, especially with TBMs required to navigate large volumes of pile obstructions and utilities. Since there will be zero tolerance for the interruption of services at ground level, this contract requires meticulous project management.

“The proven success of the joint venture’s recent MTR tunnelling projects – namely the Express Rail Link (Hong Kong Section) Contract No. 820 and West Island Line Contract No. 703 – are a testament to the strength of the Dragages Hong Kong and Bouygues Travaux Publics partnership,” said Nicolas Borit, Managing Director of Dragages Hong Kong. “We have a proven track record of delivering technically-demanding projects within busy districts, including the adoption of innovative techniques such as state-of-the-art TBMs. On both of our recent MTR projects, the joint venture’s team members successfully removed all major obstructions and overcame challenging ground conditions – on time and within budget, with minimal impact on the surrounding communities.”