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Government officials Mr C.K. Hon [Permanent Secretary for Development (Works)]
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Mr Lam Sai-hung (Director of Civil Engineering and Development)
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Mr Wong Wai-man (Project Manager of the Civil Engineering and Development Department New Territories East Development Office) along with District Council members Mr So Sai-chi (Chairman of the North District Council)
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Mr Lau Kwok-fan (Chairman of the North District Council's Traffic and Transport Committee and Legislative Council member)
First Breakthrough of Hong Kong’s largest dual-mode EPB TBM
06 March 2017
The Liantang / Heung Yuen Wai (LTHYW) Boundary Control Point (BCP) – Site Formation and Infrastructure Works – Contract 2 project entered a new chapter on 1st March with the breakthrough of the Lung Shan Tunnel southbound tube’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) section by Hong Kong’s largest dual-mode Earth Pressure Balanced (EPB) TBM.
The LTHYW BCP project is one of the major projects of co-operation among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau in the National 12th Five-Year Plan and will be the seventh land-based crossing between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. The new BCP will significantly reduce the regional travelling time between Hong Kong and eastern Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangxi while the connecting road will improve significantly the local road network in North District.
Around 4.8 kilometres in length, the Lung Shan Tunnel will be the longest twin-tube road tunnel in Hong Kong upon completion. The tunnel boring works for the southbound tube commenced in November 2015 and lasted 16 months. A number of engineering techniques were adopted for the first time in Hong Kong, including the adoption of Hong Kong’s largest EPB TBM with a diameter of 14.1 metres, to tackle the challenges of excavating the geological area with multiple faults and mixed ground conditions.
Moreover, Dragages Hong Kong equipped the TBM with in-house state-of-the-art innovations, namely MOBYDIC, TELEMACH and ROBY 850, for real-time cutter disc wear measurement; automatic replacement of worn cutter discs and semi-automatic drilling, reducing the need for manual works, thereby enhancing the safety and efficiency of works substantially.
Mr Nicolas Borit, Chairman of Dragages Hong Kong
“We are doing something unprecedented here. I know that my Dragages people have been working round the clock since the beginning of the project. With a very strong team spirit and persistency, you bring us here today.”
FIRSTS in Hong Kong
- the LONGEST twin tube road tunnel
- LARGEST EPB TBM with a diameter of 14.1 metres
- TBM U-turn operation
- In-house innovations – MOBYDIC (TBM disc cutter monitoring system), TELEMACH (automated TBM disc cutter replacement), ROBY 850 (semi-automatic drilling robot)
