Problems of illegal construction practices, safety and quality have surfaced in the planned Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge and other major infrastructure linking Hong Kong with the mainland.
A joint venture of Dragages Hong Kong, VSL (subsidiaries of French conglomerate Bouygues Construction) and China Harbour Engineering recently won the HK$12.9 billion design-build contract, the largest ever awarded in Hong Kong, according to Bouygues.
China Harbour is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction (CCC), a state-owned infrastructure construction firm listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Under the contract, the joint venture will build a 9.4 km section of the bridge from Lantau to the boundary of Hong Kong territorial waters.
Construction will begin in the middle of this year and end in 2016, when the bridge is scheduled to become operational.
The three-way bridge will support a dual three-lane carriageway, giving Hong Kong cars direct access to Macau and Zhuhai.
But problems of illegal construction have been discovered on parts of the bridge and other projects under the jurisdiction of Shenzhen, the Shenzhen Ports Association said.
