WORK on the $7.14 billion Tsing Ma bridge is going ahead even though the British and Chinese governments have yet to agree on the financing package for the new airport.
The second tower of the bridge is now 19 metres high, providing evidence of steady progress towards completing what will be one of the world's three longest suspension bridges.
When completed, the second tower, which is located on reclaimed land off Ma Wan Island, will stand 190 metres. Work on the first tower - now over 170 metres high - on Tsing Yi is expected to finish this month.
Once both towers are completed, saddles will be added resulting in an operational height of 206 metres. The saddles will hold in place cables of more than one metre in diameter, the thickest ever used on a suspension bridge.
Contractors predict the shape of the bridge will emerge early next year when work begins on a temporary catwalk from which the main cables will be constructed using a process known as aerial wire spinning.
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, British firm Cleveland Structural has carried out a 10-week trial erection of a section of deck destined for the Tsing Ma bridge to ensure construction on the Hong Kong site runs smoothly.