Tsing Ma Bridge, Hongkong

A major factor in Hong Kong's extraordinary growth in recent years has been its strategic location on the Asia-Pacific Rim, where it acts both as a hub and an entrepôt to southern China. The whole project, known as the Airport Core Programme (ACP), consists of a large number of interlinking contracts. The centerpiece of the ACP is the Tsing Ma Bridge. This steel suspension bridge has a main span of 1,377 m, the longest combined road and rail span in the world, and a total length of 2,160 m. It spans the Ma Wan Channel, between the islands of Tsing Yi and Ma Wan, which provides the only access for ocean-going ships to the ports upstream. Provision is made for a dual three lane highway on its upper deck with twin single lane sheltered carriageways and twin tracks for the Mass Transit Railway Corp.'s Airport Railway on a lower deck.