Bridge delayed: Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau link meant to slash travel time will miss 2016 deadline

A bridge linking Hong Kong to Macau and Zhuhai and for which the city has budgeted HK$117 billion for its construction will miss its 2016 deadline by a year, the Hong Kong government has confirmed.

The Hong Kong boundary crossing facilities and link road won’t be completed by the end of 2016 according to the current progress of construction, the Highways Department confirmed for the first time in a statement responding to media enquiries last night.

Referring to the project as "huge and complicated", the department said there were many technical challenges during both the design and construction stages.

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The statement said the bridge's completion would be pushed back until the end of 2017 because of unstable material supplies and shortages of labour, as well as dealing with aviation height limits, environmental protection requirements and slower than expected progress in land reclamation.

Infographics: Three cities, one bridge