First tunnel brings south of Hong Kong Island within easy reach

The Aberdeen Tunnel, which was to create a major time-saving route for travelling from the north to south sides of Hong Kong Island, was plagued by hard rock and poor soil drilling conditions.

Dragages overcame the difficulties by using heavy arch ribbing and hand-excavation for the poor ground section. The rest of the tunnel was formed by excavating 660,000 cubic metres of rock and soil using hydraulic and pneumatic jumbos.

The completed project is now part of Route 1 which links the south side of Hong Kong Island to Shatin and onwards to Sheung Shui.