The Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) said in a statement on Monday that the government has hired CCCC Highway Consultants Co. Ltd. Macau Branch to carry out a feasibility study on the construction of two tunnels either on the west or the east side of the old Macau-Taipa bridge, or a tunnel on either side.
The statement also said the study was expected to cost the public coffers MOP 7.2 million. The feasibility study is to be completed within 260 days.
CCCC refers to state-owned China Communications Construction Company.
The bureau’s preliminary study proposes that two tunnels be built next to the old Macau-Taipa bridge, officially known as Governor Nobre de Carvalho Bridge. The bridge was built in 1974, being city’s oldest bridge.
The bureau’s preliminary study has come up with three proposals – the two tunnels to be built on the west or east sides of the bridge; or a tunnel on either side of the bridge, according to the statement, which also says that each tunnel is expected to be 1,200 metres long, and each tunnel should have at least two uni-directional lanes.
The bureau also said in the statement that the length of each tunnel would be half the length of the old bridge.
The bureau pointed out in the statement that the consultancy study needed to focus on the exact locations of the two tunnels and their possible impact on the bridge, adding the government expected to receive the consultancy’s findings in the middle of next year.
According to the statement, the bureau asked four companies with tunnel-building experience for quotations in February, and in April it chose the local branch of CCCC Highway Consultants Co. Ltd., which submitted the lowest bid. (Macau News/The Macau Post Daily)
