Hong Kong’s Highways Department sets up task force to investigate snapped cable on Shenzhen Bay Bridge

The Highways Department has set up a task force to investigate what caused a cable on the cross-border Shenzhen Bay Bridge to snap.

The broken steel cable was discovered last week during routine maintenance checks and was believed to have been caused by rusting components. Two lanes out of three on the Hong Kong-bound carriageway have been closed for at least three weeks to allow the cable to be replaced.

Lawmakers and experts said the rare incident raises questions about the performance of maintenance on the bridge, noting that any rusting problems should have been spotted during routine checks for the structure, which has been operation for only 12 years.

“Due to this incident, the department has entrusted an assistant director with leading a task force to investigate the cause of the snapped steel cable. Relevant experts will be invited to participate in the investigation, which is expected to be completed within three months,” the Highways Department said on Thursday.

The department said maintenance and management of the bridge was undertaken by China Road and Bridge Corporation, a subsidiary of state-owned China Communications Construction Company, under a six-year HK$490 million (US$62.4 million) contract from 2016 to 2022.

As part of the contractual requirements, the contractor hired Aecom Asia Co. Ltd to conduct structural inspections on the bridge, including routine checks every six months, an overall check every two years and a thorough check every five to 10 years by two professional engineers and two inspectors. The department said the last thorough inspection was carried out in 2013.

It said the engineers responsible were required to hold regular meetings with the contractor and the department about their inspection findings and report any urgent matters immediately to the department via the contractor.

As a safety precaution, the department said it would check other bridges with a similar design across the city within three months, including the Hong Kong section of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the Tsing Yi Bridge and the bridge for the Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok link.

The 5.5km Shenzhen Bay Bridge, opened on July 1, 2007, is one of five – and the second busiest in 2017 – road-based boundary crossings linking Hong Kong and mainland China.

It is a dual three-lane highway spanning Deep Bay from Lau Fau Shan in Hong Kong’s New Territories to reclaimed land in the Shekou area of Shenzhen. In the first 11 months of last year, there were 4.02 million vehicular trips through the Shenzhen Bay port.

The main contractor of the Hong Kong section was Gammon-Skanska-MBEC Joint Venture. The government expected the project, costing HK$3.2 billion back then, would bring a net economic benefit of HK$175 billion from 2000 to 2020.