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Central–Wan Chai Bypass

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"Island Eastern Corridor Link" redirects here. For the expressway that connects Causeway Bay and Chai Wan, see Island Eastern Corridor.
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Central-Wan Chai Bypass
Part of Route 4
Route information
Maintained by Highways Department
Length4 km (2.5 mi)
Major junctions
East endFortress Hill
West endSheung Wan
Location
CountryChina
Special administrative regionHong Kong
DistrictsEastern, Wan Chai, Central and Western
Highway system

The Central–Wan Chai Bypass (Chinese: 中環及灣仔繞道; Jyutping: zung1 waan4 kap6 waan1 zai2 jiu2 dou4) is a four-kilometre trunk road, currently under construction, running between Sheung Wan and Fortress Hill on Hong Kong Island. The original design consists of a 2.3 km dual three-lane tunnel running under new reclamation areas which will be provided by Central and Wan Chai Reclamation project,[1] and also connections to Connaught Road West flyover and Island Eastern Corridor. When completed, it will substitute Connaught Road Central, Harcourt Road, Gloucester Road and Victoria Park Road to be part of Route 4.[2]

History

The project, originally estimated to cost $28 billion, was approved by the Legislative Council finance committee in 2009, following a "decade of objections and legal challenges" from environmentalists and citizens concerned by further reclamation of Victoria Harbour.[3] An Environmental Permit was issued under the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance and construction began the same year.

Lawmakers were "shocked" in 2013 by cost overruns. The Transport and Housing Bureau requested $8 billion in extra funding, bringing the total bill to $36 billion. Gary Fan, a member of LegCo's transport panel, asked: "Did the government deliberately underestimate the cost in order to get Legco to pass it?"[3] The government bureau blamed unforeseen geotechnical difficulties as well as fluctuating labour and materials costs for the 28 per cent budget increase.[3]

On 15 September 2015 the Director of Highways announced that the Central–Wan Chai Bypass will not open in 2017 as previously anticipated. He blamed a large metal object (probably a sunken ship) that was found on the seabed at the reclamation site in Wan Chai. As a result of the discovery, reclamation works were suspended for some time.[4] The project is currently projected to be completed towards the end of 2018.[5]

Alignment

The bypass will start from Rumsey Street Flyover at Sheung Wan. It enters a tunnel outside the International Finance Centre in Central, then heads east past the Tamar site in Admiralty with an interchange at Wan Chai. It continues to head east under the proposed reclamation areas of Wan Chai, Causeway Bay and Tin Hau. The original design to have the bypass via Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter leave the tunnel and connect with Island Eastern Corridor at Fortress Hill[1] was amended so that the bypass would now emerge from the tunnel between the IEC carriageways, merging with them near Oil Street, Fortress Hill.[6]

Tunnel ventilation

Ventilation is an indispensable part for the operation of the tunnel as it will supply fresh air to maintain good air-quality environment to the commuters inside the tunnel while discharge vitiated air in a controlled manner at pre-determined suitable locations of exhaust. The tunnel ventilation system is also required to remove smoke in case of tunnel fire incidents. It is proposed to have three ventilation buildings sited near the western end, mid-length and eastern end of the Bypass to achieve the three objectives of supplying fresh air, extracting vitiated air and removing smoke during fire.

To achieve an energy efficient ventilation system by shortening the air extraction path, the location of proposed East Ventilation Building (EVB) needs to be as close to the tunnel portal as possible.[7]

  • Construction site in 2010, looking west from Wan Chai.
    Construction site in 2010, looking west from Wan Chai.
  • Construction site in 2011, looking east from the footbridge outside IFC.
    Construction site in 2011, looking east from the footbridge outside IFC.
  • Admiralty section construction site.
    Admiralty section construction site.
  • Central section construction site.
    Central section construction site.
  • Causeway Bay section construction site.
    Causeway Bay section construction site.
  • Semi-submersible ship used to install large precast unit.
    Semi-submersible ship used to install large precast unit.
  • Heavy crane ship use in the construction.
    Heavy crane ship use in the construction.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Central–Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Route Diagram – Route 4
  3. ^ a b c Siu, Phila (13 November 2013). "Anger as bill for Central-Wan Chai Bypass goes up HK$8b to HK$36b". South China Morning Post.
  4. ^ "HyD's response to media enquiries on latest progress of Central - Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link project". Hong Kong Government. 15 September 2015.
  5. ^ Yu, Yifan (8 August 2017). "Office decentralisation trend in Hong Kong continues but rents remain high". scmp.com. South China Morning Post. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  6. ^ Public Engagement Digest - Harbourfront Enhancement Review
  7. ^ Central - Wan Chai Bypass Connecting Island Eastern Corridor Enhancement Scheme for East Ventilation Building Public Consultation Leaflet Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
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Preceded by
Island Eastern Corridor 		Hong Kong Route 4

Central–Wan Chai Bypass 		Succeeded by
Connaught Road West
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