Tsing Ma Bridge Introduction

Tsing Ma Bridge is a bridge connecting Tsing Yi Island and Man Wan Man-Made Island, which also where the name comes from. It was one of the infrastructural works of the Hong Kong Airport Core Program. This Tsing Ma Bridge is an important link between Hong Kong mainland and the Hong Kong International Airport. Initially, it was planned to have an under-water tunnel to carry the airport traffics. However, the channel was thought to be too deep and the heavy shipping traffics at the surface would make the under-water construction too dangerous to under-go. Therefore, a suspension bridge was built instead which is the Tsing Ma Bridge.

Tsing Ma Bridge is the world’s sixth largest suspension bridge but the world longest span suspension bridge which carrying both road and rail traffic. The bridge is supported by gravity-anchor in the form of reinforced concrete. It is situated in Hong Kong and it is 2.2km long. It was first constructed in May 1992 and finished in May 1997. It costs US$ 1 billion.

Tsing Ma Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge and carries a total of 8 lanes of road traffic and 2 MTR rail lines. Its main span has a length of 1,377metres which makes Tsing Ma Bridge the largest of all bridges in the world carrying rail traffic. It has the width of 41m with a height of 206m. The clearance height of the bridge is 62m so the bridge does not interrupt barges going through the Ma Wan Channel.

The major problem of Tsing Ma Bridge was to withstand the excessive wind, typhoon. To overcome the excessive wind, bridge design had changed from one single deck into two level decks. The whole construction of the longest rail and road suspension cable bridge was completed within five years. There were five major construction components which are anchorages, approach span, foundations and construction of bridge tower, main cables and suspended deck. There is a Wind and Structural Health Monitoring System (WASHMA). This system is used to monitor the bridge closely to make sure the bridge is safe. With this system, quick decisions can be made.