French contractor Dragages et Travaux Publics has broken ground on its US$359M design and build contract for a tunnel on the Lok Ma Chau/Sheung Shui rail line.
The contract was awarded by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) in November (see T&TI December 2002 p11), but the deal sparked controversy because Dragages’ bid was the highest of the four received.
Industry insiders said KCRC wanted to award the contract to Dragages, and its partner Bouygues Construction, because it wanted to use the same EPB TBM used to build the Kwai Tsing tunnels on the West Rail project.
Speaking at the tunnel ground breaking on 9 January, KCRC chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun said the tunnel could ensure the railway is completed by December 2006.
“As we are using the most advanced tunnel-boring design, the completion date could be pushed to the end of 2006,” he said.
Work involves the design and construction of two 5.2km long parallel tunnels running from Sheung Shui, north under Long Valley to Chau Tau, where the 7.5km railway will be built on viaduct.
The 8.75m diameter TBM will bore 3.5km of the tunnels under Long Valley, while cut and cover techniques will be used to construct the remaining 1.7km of approaches in the west and east. The TBM will start excavation by the last quarter of 2003.
