Stonecutters Bridge, Hong Kong 

The Stonecutters Bridge across the Rambler Channel is part of the Route 9 project in Hong Kong, an east-west expressway linking Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok at Lantau and the urban areas of the Kowloon peninsula.

COWI assisted Highways Department with a Detailed Feasibility Study with special attention to the aerodynamic response andstability of a long span cable-supported bridge.

Unlike the other major bridges of Hong Kong, Stonecutters Bridge will be clearly visible from the populated areas of west Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.

Potential

The Highways Department of Hong Kong realised the potential of the site, with the dramatic setting of a world record cable-stayed span in one of the busiest harbours in the world, and decided to procure the design concept through an international design competition.

Photo: Public domain
The bridge under construction.


Design competition

COWI and Ove Arup have worked jointly to organise a design competition for Stonecutters Bridge.

An independent technical evaluation of Stage 2 submissions was performed by COWI including: Structural and aero-dynamic adequacy check of girders, stay cables and towers by means of IBDAS and DVMFLOW.

Further COWI assisted as secretary of the technical committee.

Detailed design

The winning project of the design competition is a cable-stayed bridge with a record main span of 1,018 m. The main span is supported from two single central towers both placed on land providing a clear entrance to the container port with a vertical clearance of minimum 73.5 m.
 
The 53.5 m wide bridge deck consists of twin box girders connected by cross girders.

The stay cables connect to the outside edges of the deck only. The deck is in steel in the main span and 50 m into the first back span while the rest of the back spans are in concrete.

Prestigious

COWI, together with Ove Arup and Partners in Hong Kong, won the prestigious contract of detailed design and construction supervision of the bridge. COWI is responsible for design of towers, steel superstructure and stay cables.

Furthermore, COWI has carried out the global analyses and supervision of the extensive program for wind tunnel testing including interpretation of the results.

COWI has designed the bridge equipment and the structural monitoring system. The detailed design of the bridge has been particularly challenging:

  • it is the first cable-stayed bridge with a span over 1 km for which detailed design has been carried out
  • the site is exposed to typhoon winds
  • the busy harbour puts severe restrictions on construction operations
  • the scope for structural modifications was limited as the overall appearance of the winning project of the design competition had to be maintained.

Construction of the bridge will be completed around the beginning of 2008.