The Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok Link (, abbreviated as TM–CLKL) is a road project in the

New Territories The New Territories (N.T., Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: ) is one of the three areas of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of H ...

, Hong Kong. It comprises two elements: the "Northern Connection" and the "Southern Connection". The Northern Connection comprises an undersea tunnel crossing the Urmston Road, linking

Tuen Mun Tuen Mun () or Castle Peak is an area near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hong Kong and can be dated to the Neolithic period. In the mo ...

to the "Boundary Crossing Facilities" (BCF), an artificial peninsula connected to

Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is an international airport on the island of Chek Lap Kok in western Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or Chek Lap Kok Airport, to distinguish it from its predec ...

. The Southern Connection, officially named Shun Long Road (), comprises viaducts linking the BCF to North Lantau Highway on Lantau Island. The construction of the link has helped facilitate travel between the Northwest New Territories (

and

Yuen Long Yuen Long is a town in the western New Territories, Hong Kong. To its west lie Hung Shui Kiu (), Tin Shui Wai, Lau Fau Shan and Ha Tsuen, to the south Shap Pat Heung and Tai Tong, to the east Au Tau and Kam Tin (), and to the north Nam Sang Wa ...

Districts) and the

and the

Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge (HZMB) is a bridge–tunnel system consisting of a series of three cable-stayed bridges, an undersea tunnel, and four artificial islands. It is both the longest sea crossing and the longest Intercontinent ...

(Hong Kong Port). Though the project lies entirely within Hong Kong territory, its construction is associated with the new

(HZMB). The estimated cost of the design, site investigation, and construction of the TM–CLKL (including associated works, like land reclamation) is about HK$46.71 billion. The Southern Connection mainline opened on 24 October 2018 to tie in with HZMB's commissioning and the remaining Northern Connection to Tuen Mun opened on 27 December 2020.

History

The contract to construct the Northern Connection tunnel (No. HY/2012/08) was awarded to the Dragages-Bouygues Joint Venture on 26 July 2013. It commenced on 5 August 2013. The contract to construct the southern section was awarded to Gammon Construction in June 2013. The entire project opened to traffic on 27 December 2020.

Design

The tunnel portion is a two-lane dual carriageway approximately 5 kilometres long.

Construction

The dual sub-sea tunnels were bored up to 55 metres below sea level using the Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok TBM, the world's largest tunnel boring machine. Originally scheduled for opening in 2018, completion of the link had been delayed for two years. It opened to traffic on 27 December 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link Road tunnels in Hong Kong Undersea tunnels in Asia