A temporary rail bridge has been opened at the Lo Wu boundary crossing to carry trains travelling between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. The switchover from the old bridge was completed this morning (August 21).
A spokesman for the Drainage Services Department said the diversion work had been completed overnight, and day-time through-train and freight services would not be affected.
"With the railway line successfully switched over to the temporary bridge, the existing Lo Wu Railway Bridge can be dismantled to facilitate the construction of a new permanent bridge at the same site. It is anticipated that the line will be switched over to the new permanent bridge in early 2004," said the spokesman.
To alleviate the flooding problem in Shenzhen and the northern New Territories, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Shenzhen Municipal Government have joined hands to regulate the Shenzhen River by widening, deepening and straightening it, the spokesman explained.
"In the course of widening the river section at Lo Wu, it is necessary to reconstruct the Lo Wu Railway Bridge as its span is not long enough for the widened river section," he said.
The old Lo Wu Railway Bridge and the Lo Wu Old Pedestrian Bridge formed a serious bottleneck for flood flows. Upon completion of the bridge work and improvement of the river section at Lo Wu in early 2004, the bottleneck at Lo Wu will be removed and the flooding risk upstream of Lo Wu can be reduced in time for the 2004 wet season.
With the Stage I and Stage II works completed, the river section downstream of Lo Wu has been improved to the required flood protection standard of "one in 50 years".
The Stage III works which commenced in December 2001 are meant to improve a stretch of about 4 kilometres on the Shenzhen River, from Lo Wu to its confluence with the Ping Yuen River. The works include the reconstruction of the Lo Wu Railway Bridge, the Lo Wu Old Pedestrian Bridge, the Man Kam To Vehicular Bridge and the Dongjiang Watermains.
Improvement of the entire length of the Shenzhen River up to the Ping Yuen River will be achieved by the completion of the two remaining river improvement contracts in early 2005 and early 2006. Flooding risks will be progressively reduced as the work proceeds.
End/Thursday, August 21, 2003
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