Tsing Ma Bridge

	Hong Kong's Tsing Ma Bridge has two decks and carries both road and rail traffic. The upper deck carries a dual three-lane carriageway and there are two tracks of railway and a two-lane emergency roadway in the lower deck for maintenance and the diversion of traffic during high winds. The rail line is part of MTR's Tung Chung Line and Airport Express. It has a main span of 1,377 metres(about 4,518 ft) and a height of 206 metres(about 676 ft). The main span for this bridge even got more than the famous Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco!
The Tsing Ma Bridge links Tsing Yi Island on the east to Ma Wan island on the west over Ma Wan Channel. It is part of the Lantau Link, which, with three long span bridges links the New Territories and Check Lap Kok, where the Hong Kong International Airport is located.
Construction work of the bridge began in May 1992 and ended in May 1997. It cost HKD $7.2 billion.
	Surveillance cameras were installed over the bridge to record traffic conditions. The video is available at the government website and it will be updated every two minutes.

Five Major Components in its construction

1. Foundations and the construction of the bridge tower - one tower located on Wok Tai Wan of Tsing Yi side and the other on a man-made island 120m from the coast of Ma Wan Island. Both towers are 206m above sea level and found on relatively shallow bedrock. The towers are two-legged with trusses at intervals, in the form of portal beam design. The legs were constructed with high-strength concrete of 50 MPa (concrete grade 50/20) strength, using a slipform system in a continuous operation.
   
2. Anchorages - the pulling forces in the main suspension cables is taken up by large gravity anchorages located at both ends of the bridge. They are massive concrete structures deeply seated on bedrock on the landside of Tsing Yi and Ma Wan island. The total weight of concrete used in the Tsing Yi anchorage is 200,000 tonnes and Ma Wan Anchorage is 250,000 tonnes.
   
3. Main cables - The cables were constructed by an aerial spinning process. The process involved drawing wires from a constant-tension supply, and pulling loops of these wires from one anchorage to the other, passing a 500-tonne cast-iron saddle on top of each bridge tower seating the cable. A total of 70,000 nos. galvanised wires of 5.38 mm diameter were placed and adjusted to form the 2 nos. of 1.1 m diameter main cables.
   
4. Suspended deck - The steelwork for the deck structure was fabricated in Britain and Japan. After delivery, they were further processed and assembled in Dongguan of China into standard deck modules. A total of 96 modules, each 18 m long and about 480 tonnes in weight, were prepared. These deck modules were brought to the site by specially designed barges and raised into the deck position by a pair of strand jack gantries that could manoeuvre along the main cable.
5. Approach span on Tsing Yi side - similar in form and cross-section to the suspended deck, but the approach span was supported on piers instead of cable-support. The first span was assembled on the ground and raised into position using strand jacks. Further erection then proceeded in cantilever in smaller sections, using derrick cranes stationed on the deck level. An expansion joint which allowed for a maximum thermal movement of กำ 835 mm was also provided and located inside the approach span section.

As a Tourist Sight

Tsing Ma Bridge becomes a favorite scenic spot as well as a famous landmark. In order to watch and get further information about it, one can go to the Lantau Link Visitor Centre and Viewing Platform which is located at the northwest corner of Tsing Yi Island, which is just next to the Bridge's Tsing Yi end. The model, pictures and the structure of the Lantau Link and Ting Kau Bridge are on display at the Centre. The Visiting Centre is opened from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on weekdays; from 10:00 am to 6:30 pm on Saturdays, Sundays and most of the public holidays. From the Scenery Viewing Platform, one can also see the Ting Kau Bridge and Kap Shui Mun Bridge. They are the other two bridges listed in the world's "Three Mosts" as well.

Visitors can also have a different spot at the Airport Core Program (ACP) Exhibition Centre located about 2 km north of the Bridge.

There is no sidewalk on the Bridge. Parking is also prohibited on this gigantic Bridge.

Couple ways to get there

To the bridge
Travelling on an automobile is the only way to travel along the upper deck of the Bridge. The cheapest way is to take a bus running between the Hong Kong International Airport (or Tung Chung as well) and the city. These Citybus and Long Win Bus routes are having route number prefixes "A" and "E".

To the Visitor Centre and Viewing Platform
Only cars and taxis can reach the Visitor Centre because the best view location, where the centre and plaform is located, is away from major roads and development. Taxis can be caught at the nearest MTR station, Tsing Yi Station. There are parking places for cars and coaches.

To the ACP Exhibition Centre
To get there, visitors can take bus routes 234B or 53 near the Tsuen Wan MTR station.