Linking east and west in Hong Kong

Due to open in 2025, the 4.7km long Central Kowloon Route (CKR) will shorten the journey time between the east and west Kowloon from 30 minutes to about 5 minutes, alleviating traffic congestion in Hong Kong’s most populous area. The dual three-lane carriageway is mostly below ground in the forms of depressed roads and tunnels, freeing up existing roads for local traffic and reducing air and noise pollution for citizens. Navigating existing subterranean infrastructure including four in-service rail tunnels, tunnelling through seven major fault zones, and temporarily reclaiming land from the sea have been huge engineering challenges. Maintaining on-going road traffic and working in severely constrained sites have added to the complexity of the project. Since 2010, Mott MacDonald has been providing design, engineering and construction supervision services across eight contracts on CKR in a joint venture with Arup. From building information modelling (BIM) to smart management systems, we are managing CKR as a digital project throughout. Data from the separate contract operations have been brought together into a single, project-wide management platform to support real-time monitoring of onsite activities and performance. Our 3D BIM models have been used to plan the construction of the temporary cofferdam to build a cut-and-cover tunnel in Kowloon Bay, and to simulate sequencing work for a new section of flyover and the demolition of a multistorey car park building, through which the original flyover passed. We also used the model for interface coordination as well as construction sequence planning to enhance construction quality and safety.