Cheung Tsing Tunnel, also spelled Cheung Ching Tunnel, is a dual tube 3-lane

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

Tsing Yi Island Tsing Yi, sometimes referred to as Tsing Yi Island, is an island in the urban area of Hong Kong, to the northwest of Hong Kong Island and south of Tsuen Wan. With an area of , the island has extended drastically by reclamation along almost all ...

, Hong Kong. It is part of Route 3. Its east end connects to

Cheung Tsing Bridge Cheung Tsing Bridge, formerly Rambler Channel Bridge, is a bridge crossing Rambler Channel in Hong Kong, connecting Cheung Tsing Tunnel on Tsing Yi Island and Kwai Chung section of Tsing Kwai Highway. It is part of Tsing Kwai Highway of ...

and west

Cheung Tsing Highway Cheung Tsing Highway () is a highway of Route 3 between Cheung Tsing Tunnel and on Tsing Yi Island, New Territories, Hong Kong. It was built as part of the Airport Core Programme together with the rest of Route 3 to provide a new highway link f ...

. The tunnel was opened on 22 May 1997 and is the second toll-free tunnel in Hong Kong. Its length is about 1.6 kilometres.

Construction

The tunnel was given the name "Cheung Ching" (長青) because it is beneath

Cheung Ching Estate The following is an overview of public housing estates on Tsing Yi, Hong Kong including Home Ownership Scheme (HOS), Private Sector Participation Scheme (PSPS), Flat-for-Sale Scheme (FFSS), Tenant Purchase Scheme (TPS) and Subsidised Sale Fl ...

, the first

public housing estate Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

on the island. Construction through the

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

Tsing Yi Peak Tsing Yi Peak (; formerly spelled Tsing I Peak), also known as Sam Chi Heung (; ), is a hill with three peaks occupying the southern half of the Tsing Yi Island, Hong Kong. The hill is situated on the western half of Victoria Harbour. Its peaks ...

required

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

to get through the hardness of the hill. To prevent dislodging of rocks and buildings on the surface slopes the rocks were reinforced by

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

and

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

. Although the tunnel used explosives in its construction, boring was more used as the primary digging procedure. Construction commenced in May 1993 and was completed in January 1997.

Management

The tunnel was managed by

Tsing Ma Management Limited Tsing may refer to: *Jing (disambiguation) *Jin (disambiguation) * Qing (disambiguation) *Qin (disambiguation) *Ching (disambiguation) *Chin (disambiguation) The chin is the lowermost part of the human face. * Double chin, an extra layer of fat ...

under

Tsing Ma Control Area Tsing Ma Control Area (Chinese: 青馬管制區; TMCA) is an area covering Lantau Link and related road networks in the New Territories, Hong Kong, including Tsing Ma Bridge, Kap Shui Mun Bridge, Ma Wan Viaduct (all part of the Lantau Link), Cheu ...

, along with

Tsing Ma Bridge Tsing Ma Bridge is a bridge in Hong Kong. It is the world's 16th-longest span suspension bridge, and was the second longest at time of completion. The bridge was named after the two islands it connects, namely Tsing Yi and Ma Wan. It has tw ...

Kap Shui Mun Bridge The Kap Shui Mun Bridge (KSMB) in Hong Kong, part of Lantau Link of Route 8, is one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world that transports both road and railway traffic, with the upper deck used for motor vehicles and the lower deck u ...

Ting Kau Bridge Ting Kau Bridge is a long cable-stayed bridge in Hong Kong that spans from the northwest of Tsing Yi Island and Tuen Mun Road. It is near the Tsing Ma Bridge which also serves as a major connector between the Hong Kong International Airport o ...

, Rambler Channel Bridge,

North Lantau Highway North Lantau Highway is an expressway forming part of Hong Kong's Route 8, linking Hong Kong International Airport and Lantau Island with the rest of the territory. The road has three lanes in each direction for its entire length with full ...

and

Tsing Kwai Highway Tsing Kwai Highway () is a section of Route 3 in Hong Kong, previously known as Route 3 - Kwai Chung Section. From its junction with West Kowloon Highway at Mei Foo Roundabout, the expressway runs in the form of a three-kilometre dual-four-lan ...

. The traffic of the tunnel is monitored in the buildings at both end, namely East Portal and West Portal Buildings.

References

External links

A brief introduction by Tsing Ma Management Limited
{{HK routes, r3; Tsing Yi Road tunnels in Hong Kong Tunnels completed in 1997 1997 establishments in Hong Kong