DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

OF STONECUTTERS BRIDGE,
HONG KONG


Naeem Hussain
1
and Steve Kite
2

1
Director, Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd, Hong Kong
2
Associate, Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd, Hong Kong



ABSTRACT

Highways Department (HyD) of Hong Kong SAR is turning their idea for a world class bridge across
Rambler Channel at the entrance to Kwai Chung Container Port into reality. Due to the spectacular
location, HyD selected the concept for the bridge through an international design competition. The
competition took place in the first half of 2000 and the winning concept was a cable-stayed structure
with freestanding towers located between twin box girder decks. The 1018m main span is in steel,
while the four back spans each side are in concrete. The two towers stand on shore, providing
unobstructed access to the busy container port with a minimum navigation headroom of 73.5m.

A number of modifications were introduced to the scheme during subsequent technical review.
Detailed design started in March 2002. Tender was called in August 2003 and returned in December
2003. The construction contract was awarded to the Maeda-Hitachi-Yokogawa-Hsin Chong J oint
Venture, and construction began in April 2004. At the end of 2007, the concrete back spans were
complete and the towers were well on their way to their final heights of 298m forming significant
landmarks against the backdrop of Hong Kong harbour. Major sections of the steel deck, fabricated in
China, are now on site, with the areas around each tower erected by a 4000T heavy lift strand jacking
scheme. The first of the prefabricated parallel wire stay cables have been erected. Completion of the
bridge is scheduled for 2009.

KEYWORDS

cable-stayed bridge, design competition, seismic design, typhoon wind loading, ship impact,
construction methods, steel fabrication, heavy lift scheme










INTRODUCTION

An international design competition was organized by the Highways Department if the Government of
Hong Kong SAR in 2000 to establish a Reference Scheme (RS) for Stonecutters Bridge. It was won by
a joint venture of Halcrow and Flint & Neill from UK, Shanghai Municipal Design Institute from
China and Dissing & Weitling from Denmark. The bridge is the centrepiece of the new Route 8
expressway where the dual three lane road crosses the Rambler Channel at the entrance to the busy
container terminals (Figures 1 and 2). Route 8 will provide an alternative connection to the
international airport and better access to the new container terminal on Tsing Yi Island. The detailed
design assignment was won in a tender, based on technical and fee competition, by Arup in 2001 with
Cowi and BMT as principal sub-consultants.


































BRIDGE LAYOUT

To provide a vertical clearance of 73.50m over the busy navigation channel, a cable-stay bridge with a
main span of 1018m, set to become the worlds second longest cable-stayed span, was chosen. The
total length is 1596m. The 53.30m wide main span deck comprises of two separate orthotropic steel
box girders connected by transverse cross girders spaced at 18m centres, to coincide with the stay-
cable anchorage spacing. The steel portion extends 49.75m beyond each tower so that the total length
Figure 1 : Location of Stonecutters Bridge
Figure 2 : Stonecutters Bridge A photomontage viewing from Lai Chi Kok


Figure 5 : Steel deck - main span.
of steel deck is 1117.5m. The back span twin decks are in prestressed concrete and are monolithic
with the back span piers. Stay cables are in two planes arranged in a modified fan layout and attached
to the outside edges of the deck girders.

The mono-column towers are located in the opening between the twin decks, and are constructed in
concrete up to level +175m, and in composite construction with an outer stainless steel skin to +293m
and topped with a light feature to +298m. The base of the tower section is 24m by 18m, with circular
ends and straight sides. This tapers to become circular at deck level and upwards, with a diameter of
14m at deck level and 7m at the top. The back span piers are spaced at 79.75m, 70m, 70m and 69.25m.
The three intermediate piers have single rectangular tapered column shafts, whilst the end piers at the
interfaces with the adjoining viaducts are twin column portal structures. Both sides of the bridge are
on reclaimed land and foundations are large diameter bored piles taken down to rock. Pile lengths are
between 50m and 110m and diameters are between 2.2m and 2.8m (Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6).







































Figure 3 : Elevation and plan of the bridge
Figure 4 : Concrete deck east back spans
















Design Memorandum

A project specific Design Memorandum was written to set out the rules and criteria for detailed
design. The Design Memorandum referred to various codes of practice and design rules such as the
Hong Kong Structures Design Manual for Highways and Railways and BS5400, but it also defined
new loadings and rules for particular extreme events where the codes did not adequately deal with the
issues.

Limit State Design

In accordance with normal practice, design was carried out at serviceability limit state (SLS) and
ultimate limit state (ULS). At ULS a 5% chance of a loading event being exceeded within the 120-
year design life (exposure period) is permitted. This corresponds to a 2400-year return period. At
SLS a return period of 120 years is used resulting in a likelihood of exceedance of 63%.

Additionally, a third limit state for structural integrity (SILS) was defined for extreme events. The
design criteria chosen allow deformation and damage to occur, but no destruction of key elements, and
the bridge should remain operational for emergency traffic. After such an event, significant repair
might be required and the bridge could be closed to allow this to take place. A 2% likelihood of
exceeding the condition with a corresponding 6000-year return period is deemed appropriate.

DESIGN FOR SEISMIC ACTION

Short span bridges in Hong Kong have traditionally been designed for a 0.05g nominal lateral load.
For long period structures this is too onerous and a more sophisticated approach using response
spectra is required.

Ground Motion Hazard

Ground motion can be quantified in several ways. From historical records observations of damage can
determine a measure of intensity, although descriptive records are obviously subjective. Where the
data is available, peak acceleration, velocity or displacement values give a more exact measure. The
frequency content of motions represented in response spectra gives a more complete picture.

The key information required for a seismic hazard assessment includes the proximity, and the activity
rate of potential seismic sources, and the attenuation between the source and the point of interest.
Clearly the further away from the source the less intense the ground motions are at the site.

Figure 6 : Foundations East side


Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment (PSHA)

A PSHA was carried out to determine ground motions having the desired annual probabilities of being
exceeded. The observed seismicity in the South China region came from historical data (measure of
intensity) and more recent recorded data compiled by several agencies. The onshore data is much
more complete than the offshore records, but allowing for the different completeness a coherent and
consistent source model can be determined (Free, Pappin & Koo, 2004). The source model for the
500km range from Hong Kong shown in Figure 7 was developed. Within each area a uniform activity
rate is assumed. A constant relationship was used to model the relative activity rates for different
magnitudes. Taiwan was treated as a separate source model and it had a significant contribution to the
SLS long period motion.






















Site Response

The effect of the local soil profile was taken into account by using a one-dimensional non-linear
dynamic site response analysis to determine the design spectra at ground level. Site response effects
can amplify the underlying ground motions, in some cases considerably. In-situ shear wave velocity
tests were used to determine the soil input parameters for these analyses. The spectral results from the
time history analyses were enveloped into an easily defined spectrum for each limit state return period.
See Table 1, and Figures 8 and 9.

TABLE 1
SPECTRAL ACCELERATIONS FOR DIFFERENT LIMIT STATES

Spectral Acceleration (m/s
2
)
for each Period (s)
Limit
State
Return
Period
(years)
Probability of
being exceeded
in 120 years
Peak
Acceleration
(m/s) 0.1 0.5 1.0 2.0 5.0 10
SLS 120 63 % 0.70 1.75 1.75 0.88 0.44 0.07 0.02
ULS 2400 5 % 2.40 6.00 6.00 3.00 1.50 0.24 0.06
SILS 6000 2 % 3.15 7.88 7.88 3.94 1.97 0.32 0.08

Figure 7 : Earthquakes within 500km of Hong Kong
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7




















Liquefaction Scenarios

Liquefaction occurs when the strength and stiffness of a saturated soil is reduced because of the
increase in pore water pressure under rapid loading, such as a seismic event. The probability of
liquefaction was studied and considered to be likely at SILS. Lower values of soil shear modulus over
the affected depth where liquefaction may occur were therefore used in the pile group analysis for the
SILS condition.

Non-synchronous Ground Motions

When considering a structure of significant size such as Stonecutters Bridge, the effects at one tower
may be different from those at the other tower, 1.0 kilometre away. The relative movement between
supports is assessed by examining a displacement time history analysis to determine the maximum
differential horizontal displacements. Simple static rules can then be used to add this effect into the
results from the standard spectral analysis.

DESIGN FOR WIND ACTION

Hong Kong is affected by typhoon winds and the bridge must therefore be able to withstand the
associated extreme wind loading. In order to establish the wind climate and wind loading model
suitable for the dynamic wind load assessment of the bridge, wind tunnel tests and analyses of new
and existing data were undertaken.

Buffeting calculations allow assessment of the actions on a flexible structure arising from the
interaction between gusty winds and the dynamics of the structure itself. In order to carry out such
calculations, not only the wind speed profile must be known but also the turbulence properties in the
space occupied by the bridge structure: i) the turbulence intensity profile which is a function of the
height above ground level, ii) the spectral distribution of turbulent velocity fluctuations which is a
function of frequency, and iii) the coherence which is a function of frequency and spatial distance
between points.

A large amount of historical wind data was available from the Hong Kong Observatory at Waglan
Island, south east of Hong Kong Island. However, the bridge is located within Hong Kong Harbour
and partly surrounded by hills and high-rise urban development affecting the wind characteristics.
Figure 8 : Spectral accelerations
Figure9 : Calculated site spectra
2400 year Velocity Response Spectrum 5% damping


Further existing data was also made available from Tsing Ma and Kap Shui Mun Bridges, which have
locations more akin to Stonecutters Bridge. Although the analysis of this data provided valuable
estimates of the mountainous/urban exposure turbulence to be expected, it could not be considered a
priori to be accurate at the new bridge site. Therefore terrain model testing at 1:1500 scale of the
bridge site, including Tsing Yi Island and the Tsing Ma/Kap Shui Mun area, was carried out at
Monash University in Australia (Figure 10), as well as wind turbulence measurements on site at the
location of the eastern end of Stonecutters Bridge. Results from the wind tunnel were then correlated
with site measurements.





















Ocean exposure is characterised by high wind speeds and low turbulence. The characteristic 1-hour
design mean wind speed at deck level equals 52m/sec for ocean exposure from south westerly
directions. When the wind is approaching from the mountainous/urban terrain the maximum wind
speed is lower but the level of turbulence is high. The 1-hour design mean wind speed at deck level
equals 42m/sec for this exposure from westerly to south easterly directions. Refer to the location plan
in Figure 1. The high turbulence wind has generally governed the design.

The design turbulence intensity functions at height z above ground have been adopted as shown below.


19 . 0
10
10
175 . 0
) (

= =
z z V
I
u
u

29 . 0
10
10
437 . 0
) (

= =
z z V
I
u
u

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

The development of the RS was carried out to improve the constructability, the structural/aerodynamic
performance and/or maintainability/durability of the bridge, but preserving the appearance established
through the design competition. Some keys improvements are described below.
Figure 10 : Terrain model in wind tunnel
For approach wind from open ocean fetch from south-
westerly direction.
For approach wind over complex hilly or built-up terrain
from westerly to south easterly direction.


Articulation

The RS included a monolithic joint between deck and tower. This was replaced by transverse bearings
for lateral loadings and longitudinal hydraulic buffers for short term wind and seismic loads as shown
in Figure 11. The benefits of the change are:

Reduced restraining forces on the tower from temperature variations for the bridge in-service.

Reduced torsional moment in the tower during construction (cantilevering of the main span) as
well as in-service, which was very large under buffeting wind effects.

Elimination of a hard-point in the deck for bending about a horizontal axis to avoid a
combination of high bi-axial bending and compression.















Tower

Circular shaped towers are susceptible to vortex shedding induced vibrations, which can occur at low
wind speeds and induce vibrations of the stay cables due to linear resonance and parametric excitation.
The upper part of the RS tower was in steel and the lateral tower frequencies matched the frequencies
of some of the stay cables. An aero-elastic wind tunnel test at a 1:100 scale at the Velux laboratory in
Denmark showed large sinusoidal motion of the tower with a peak response of up to 0.45m. A time-
history analysis, run over 400 seconds, showed that this could induce a peak amplitude of stay cable
motion of up to 8.35m due to linear resonance vibration. A composite tower with 800mm thick
concrete and 20mm steel skin (Figure 12) overcame the problem by making the frequency of vibration
of the tower outside the range of frequency of the stay cable vibrations, and also reducing the tower
peak amplitude deflection to 0.07m.












Figure 11 : Transverse bearings and hydraulic buffers at towers
CABLE ANCHOR BOX 20mm STAINLESS
STEEL SKIN
800mm CONCRETE
WALL
Figure 12 : Details of the upper tower


Deck

The soffit of the longitudinal girders of the RS was curved, and this was modified so that the inner
faces composed of straight plates (Figure 13). The main advantages are:

Improved joint between cross girders and longitudinal girders, making it easier to fabricate and
inspect.

Less prone to Reynolds Number effects and making a defined point at the intersection of the
curved and the straight plates for vortex shedding, which makes the aerodynamic behaviour more
predictable. This also enables a guide vane to be fitted at the intersection, which reduces the
susceptibility to vortex shedding parametric vibration of the deck and associated resonant vibration
of the stay-cables.

In addition to traditional section model testing at a scale of 1:80, which was carried out at the Danish
Maritime Institute in Denmark, a 1:20 scale testing was carried out at the National Research Council
of Canada laboratories (NRCC), which confirmed that the guide-vanes completely eliminated vortex
shedding response. The guide-vanes were further refined with forced motion wind tunnel testing at
NRCC.















DETAILED DESIGN

Design of Concrete Back Span Decks

The concrete back spans are monolithic with the piers and the stress state due to permanent loads is
therefore highly dependent on the method and sequence of constructing the various elements. The fact
that the stays are connected to the outside of the deck would, if a single large box had been used in the
back spans, lead to a state of transverse bending in the box. With the chosen configuration of two
longitudinal box girders connected by cross girders, the result is a combination of torsion in the
longitudinal boxes and bending (sagging) in the cross girders. The ratio between torsion and bending
depends on the stiffness ratio of the members, and relatively high torsion stresses exist in the structure
due to permanent loads. It has been possible to make some adjustment to the distribution of forces
through the construction method by building in restraint forces. However, due to the scale of the
structure and creep effects, this has only been attempted to a limited degree.

The construction sequence ensures the maximum efficiency of the transverse prestress by casting and
stressing the cross girders individually before casting the joining longitudinal deck bays. This also
offered the possibility to make some adjustment to the permanent torsion in the longitudinal girders.
AJ
RS
Figure 13 : Reference Scheme (RS)
and alternative cross section (AJ )


The cross girder tendons are all placed at maximum eccentricity at the bottom of the section, and in
order to stress them fully prior to the deck being supported by the stay cables, temporary prestress
above deck level is required. This temporary prestress was tuned to lock in additional bending to the
cross girders. When the stay cables are later attached and tensioned at the deck edges, the temporary
transverse prestress will be released and a beneficial torsion is induced in the two longitudinal girders
(Figure 14).











The longitudinal prestress is carried out when all deck units are completed and connected to the pier
crossheads. The longitudinal prestress consists mainly of external tendons inside the boxes with
tendon deviation at the cross girder walls. The prestress demand for flexure reduces with the
increasing compression from the inclined stay cables towards the towers. The interface between
concrete and steel is prestressed such that the joint is in compression over the entire area for SLS loads
and that sufficient compression is present to transfer the shear forces safely at ULS.

Design of Steel Decks

The steel boxes have orthotropic deck plates, the design of which is governed by fatigue loading on
the bridge. The bridge is located in a sub-tropical climate with afternoon summer time temperatures
frequently above 30C. The reduction in stiffness of asphalt surfacing at high temperatures means that
the benefit of the surfacing acting compositely with the deck plate to reduce local stresses will be
limited. Furthermore, the traffic crossing the bridge is expected to contain an unusually high number
of heavy goods vehicles due to the bridge linking to the Kwai Chung container terminal. It is
estimated that 42% of the total traffic will be heavy goods vehicles. To cope with this intense fatigue
loading, without beneficial composite action with the surfacing, the orthotropic steel decks have been
designed with an 18mm thick deck plate together with 325mm deep, 9mm thick, trough stiffeners.
The distance between the diaphragms is 3.8m in general, and 2.8m at the cross girders. This results in
a relatively heavy and stiff top flange, which will also be advantageous in extending the life of the
60mm thick mastic asphalt surfacing.

Design of Stay Cables

The stay cables are the prefabricated parallel wire type with 7mm diameter galvanised wires and
extruded outer HDPE sheathing. The tensile strength of the wires is 1770MPa and the allowable stress
at service load is 769MPa. The stay cables are very compact, with outer diameters varying from
113mm (163 wires) near the towers to 192mm (499 wires) towards the end of the back spans. The
longest cable is 540m long and weighs about 70 tonnes.

Full scale wind tunnel tests were carried out on stay cables of various diameters to confirm the drag
coefficient used in the design and to investigate the effect of various surface profiles to counteract
rain-wind induced vibrations. Hydraulic internal dampers will be installed at deck stay anchorage
tubes and rubber dampers at the tower anchorage tubes.

Figure 14 : Schematic prestress layout at cross girders
TEMPORARY PRESTRESS


Design of Foundations

Accidental Loads due to Ship Impact

The tower foundations are located approximately 10m from seawalls on both sides of the Rambler
Channel. Given the close proximity, account has been taken in the design for impact loading induced
by a ship collision with the seawall. A series of centrifuge tests were carried out (Lee & Peiris, 2004)
to model the effect of a 155,000 tonnes container ship impacting the seawall at a speed of 6 knots.
From the results of the test and correlation of the pressure measurements with elastic numerical 3D
models, the force exerted by the impact at the front face of the bridge foundation has been determined
(Figures 15 and 16).















Foundation Design

The foundations have been designed using an iterative process to achieve compatibility between the
superstructure and the substructure of the bridge. The pile foundations are designed to accommodate
additional negative skin friction loads resulting from down-drag of the soil caused by the ongoing
long-term settlement of the reclaimed ground. Allowable bearing pressures vary from 3.0MPa for
moderately decomposed rock to 7.5MPa for fresh to slightly decomposed strong rock. In order to
achieve optimum design of the bored piles, the bases of the piles are enlarged to form bell-outs to
increase their bearing capacity such that they are of similar magnitudes as the structural compression
capacities of the pile shafts.

CONSTRUCTION

The construction contract was awarded to a J oint Venture (MHYHJ V) led by a J apanese contractor,
Maeda, together with two other J apanese contractors, Hitachi and Yokogawa, and a local Hong Kong
contractor, Hsin Chong.

The handing over of the construction site was staggered, with the Contractor getting immediate
possession of the eastern side in April 2004 while the western side was handed over in October 2004.

Foundations

Piling

The piles were constructed to tight positional and verticality tolerances using full depth temporary
steel casings installed with an oscillator. For the longest piles some of the casings were sacrificial. A
Figure 15 : Ship impact model in centrifuge Figure 16 : 3D computer model of impact


grab was used to excavate the sand, followed by rotary core drilling to form bell-outs in rock. The
bellouts were not cased, so there was potential for instability and void loss. This problem was
overcome by grouting the zones where necessary, and then coring though the grout, leaving an
annulus of stable material.

Pile caps

Constructing the pile caps in the permeable sand next to the sea required careful design of the sheet
pile cofferdams and dewatering systems. The back span caps, typically 19m by 11m by 4m thick,
were cast in a single pour. To control differential temperatures, insulation was provided to retard heat
dissipation (Figure 17). Each tower cofferdam was a 38m by 50m by 10m deep excavation and had
three layers of steel struts which were incorporated into the caps (Figure 18). Concrete pours typically
1m thick were used to form the 8m thick caps, with additional reinforcement provided at each layer to
control thermal cracking.
















Concrete Back Spans

Pier Shafts

The intermediate pier shafts are between 60 and 65m tall, with hollow box sections tapering from
12.5m to 10m wide, having a constant thickness of 4m. Walls are either 600mm or 1m thick. They
were constructed with 60MPa concrete using a hydraulic climbing form system from VSL. Four
pockets were cast into the outer face at each pour to provide the support points for the climbform.
With typical pour heights of 4m, a cycle time for construction of each lift of 6 days was achieved, with
concrete finishing works undertaken from trailing platforms which hung below the main working
platforms.

The end portal pier shafts have a similar form and were constructed using similar techniques.

Pier Cross Heads

At each intermediate pier, the monolithic cross head is formed by in-situ cantilever construction. The
integration of the deep section (9m at the root) with the curved soffits of the longitudinal decks made
for a complicated geometry, as shown in Figure 19, so the pours are split into manageable sizes. Steel
temporary works trusses cantilevering from the pier shaft provided the support in the temporary
construction stage before the concrete has gained the required strength.

Figure 17 : Back span pile cap Figure 18 : Tower pile cap















Concrete Deck

Falsework System

The contractor elected the use of precast columns on bored pile foundations to provide the required
temporary support system which carries the weight of the in-situ concrete decks until the stay cables
are installed. Two columns per cross girder up to 60m tall are spaced at 35.8m to suit the web
locations. This system provides a relatively stiff support, which minimises the deflections that occur
when the deck segments are cast, and also minimises uncertainty of those deflections, hence reducing
the adjustments required to correct the levels. The 50MPa concrete columns are hollow sections, 2.5m
square, with typical wall thicknesses of 250mm. Vertical prestressing bars are coupled together and
stressed down onto the segments at each of three 20m high modules. Steel truss members brace the
columns together in both the longitudinal and transverse directions, and plan bracing is also introduced
at the top of each module to form structures rigid enough to carry the heavy decks even in the event of
a full typhoon.

Level adjustment is provided at the top of each temporary column, with four 500T jacks, which could
be used to move elements of the decks up or down as necessary. This ensures the correct alignment of
the independent cross girders, prior to connecting them to each other and then to the pier cross heads,
even if the falsework deflections are different from the predicted values.

Cross Girders

The 4m wide concrete cross girders were cast on stiff steel trusses, spanning the 35.8m between the
falsework columns, and wing trusses for the areas outboard of the columns. The area on top of the
trusses was decked out, with scaffolding on top of this to form the curved shape of the soffit.

The contractor has modified the envisaged arrangement of temporary transverse prestress slightly to
give better clearance for access along the top of the deck. The pairs of horizontal cables, providing a
force of 5MN, are located 4.5m above the top slab. Additional transverse prestress tendons are
provided in the top slab in the region above the falsework columns to counteract the hogging moment.

Longitudinal Girders

Steel falsework trusses were hung from the constructed cross girders and cross heads to support
casting the longitudinal box girders in each bay. Similar decking as used for the cross girders was
placed on these trusses to form working platforms, and then scaffolding provided to form curved soffit
shape. Due to larger pours and complex shapes, a three staged pour is used the bottom slab first,
Figure 19 : Cutaway section of typical pier cross head


then the webs, lastly the top slab with careful evaluation of the locked-in stresses this induces to
ensure that they can be accommodated by the design.
























Lower Towers

The complex shape of the tapering lower towers from ground level to +175m was formed using a
climbing formwork system provided by subcontractor Cantilever. 10 individual panels carried the
plywood shutters (Figure 21). Strips were cut off the edges each time the form was lifted to reduce the
perimeter length for each pour. The high quality plywood had to be durable enough for the repeated
pours, but also flexible enough to be bent into an arc with an ever decreasing radius.

The climbing operation to raise the form in
preparation for the next pour is controlled by 10
pairs of screw jacks, supported on the top of the
previous construction joint. Steering the form to
maintain the correct alignment was a delicate
operation with coordination of all jacks required
to keep the form level and eliminate any twisting.
A cycle time of 7 days was achieved for the
typically 4m high pours, with concrete finishing
works undertaken from trailing platforms which
hung below the main working platforms.






Figure 21 : Lower Tower construction
Figure 20 : Back Span construction in progress


Upper Towers

In each tower, 32 stainless steel sections make up the tapering outer skin. The lowest 3 sets of stay
cables anchor in corbels on the inside face of the concrete wall, whereas the remaining stay cables
anchor within a steel box made of 25 carbon steel sections forming the core of the tower between
levels +195m and +280m.

Steelwork Fabrication

Duplex stainless steel, grade 1.4462, is adopted for the steel sections, as it provides a very high level
of corrosion resistance in the marine atmosphere and avoids the need for painting of carbon steel in
areas which are extremely difficult to access. Steel plate was supplied by Outokumpu from Sweden to
the fabrication yard in Guangdong province, China. Each segment is fabricated in 2 halves from
20mm thick plate, with 25mm thick stiffening flanges top and bottom, and intermediate stiffening
rings. Vertical bolted splice connections join the halves together, and horizontal bolted splices
connect segments together at the flanges. 300mm long shear studs on the back face of the skin form
the composite connection into the concrete wall.

Anchor boxes, as shown in Figure 22, have plate thicknesses up to 40mm thick, which require
considerable heat control to minimise distortions during welding. Careful planning of the assembly
sequence was also required to limit the areas where access for welding is difficult. Shear studs on the
end faces and corners of the anchor boxes provide composite action with the concrete wall.

After the match fabrication of adjacent segments, the skins are fitted around the central anchor boxes
in a rolling trial assembly operation of three segments to ensure the correct geometry and verticality.
(Figure 23). This process is vital to ensure accurate fit between segments, and to maintain their
vertical alignment. During erection on site, the geometry achieved during the trial is repeated, with
little or no room for adjustment, so making certain that it is within tolerance at the fabrication stage is
essential. The relative geometry between the skins and the anchor boxes dictates the correct alignment
and position of the stay cable anchorage points.





















Figure 22 : Fabricated anchor box
Figure 23 : Trial assembly of 3 segments
of tower steelwork


The final operation in fabrication is the shot-peening process to achieve the desired surface finish on
the outside face of the stainless steel skins. A mixture of fine glass bead and aluminium oxide was
blasted into the surface to produce a slightly textured finish, rough enough not to reflect too much
sunlight which could dazzle drivers, but smooth enough to avoid the accumulation of excessive
amounts of dirt.

Erection

Tower cranes are used to erect the stack of steelwork on top of the lower towers, reproducing the same
geometry as achieved in the trial assembly. The verticality of the first skin was crucial in achieving
the correct alignment of the remainder of each upper tower. Therefore, at each tower, the first 2 skins
were positioned and extensive surveys carried out prior to finalising the levelling and grouting the
interface between the lower tower and upper tower.

The heaviest half skin, including temporary stiffening and a lifting beam, weighed 24T which dictated
the type of tower crane used. The lightest half is only 9T, and this is the one to be lifted to the highest
elevation, where stronger winds are more likely. Concerns over controlling the behaviour in strong
winds led to strict limits on the allowable wind speed for lifting to take place. Real-time wind
measurements from the top of the tower cranes are transmitted to the site team. Anchor boxes weigh
between 18T to 15T with shapes much less likely to suffer adverse effects in the wind.

In general, the erection of skin sections advances a full cycle ahead of the concreting. Reinforcement
fixing is a relatively difficult operation due the small working area available inside the skin and the
careful integration of steel reinforcement with shear studs of both the skin and the anchor boxes. The
cycle sequence ensures that whenever concrete is being placed the shape of the skin is held in position
by the skin above.

At the end of each cycle a survey of each stay cable anchorage point is undertaken so that any
tolerances can be taken into account in determining the stay cable installation lengths.























Figure 25 : Segment assembly of deck panels Figure 24 : Upper Tower construction


Steel Deck

Fabrication and Assembly

Steel deck panels are fabricated at a facility in North Eastern China. The plates are cut to shape and
stiffeners are welded on to create sub-assemblies such as deck plates, bottom panels, diaphragms and
cross girder panels. An initial mock-up segment was constructed to highlight where difficulties would
be expected in fabrication and to confirm the fit-up geometry. The lessons learnt have been applied to
both panel fabrication and subsequent assembly.

The panels are then shipped to an assembly yard in Guangdong province, Southern China, where
assembly takes place on two production lines (Figure 25). Match fabrication to ensure a consistent
cross section shape and the correct segment alignment is crucial to ensure that welding segments
together on site proceeds without problems. Blasting and painting is the final operation before
shipment to Hong Kong by barge.

Heavy Lifting Scheme

The 88m length of steel deck above land was originally envisaged to be constructed on high level
falsework, similar to that used for the concrete back spans. However, the contractor elected to use a
heavy lifting scheme in which the two longitudinal girders are each assembled at ground level and
then simultaneously strand jacked 70m into their final positions. The total lifting load is 4000T,
including the weights of lifting frames to be used later for main span segment erection.

Due to the shape of the tower, which is wider at the base than at deck level, the two decks are 12m
further apart at ground level, and are slid transversely once at high level. A 2m longitudinal slide is
also necessary to place the decks onto a temporary interface truss before lifting and welding the
connecting cross girders, and casting the 2m section to stitch the steel and concrete decks together.
























Figure 26 : 4000T Heavy Lift at the East Tower in progress


Each deck was suspended on four lifting points, with 88% of the load carried at temporary brackets
attached to the tower. The remaining load was carried via temporary lifting beams cantilevering from
the concrete back span decks. Using the permanent works to support the lifting equipment eliminated
additional foundations and lifting pylons, whilst allowing the assembly work to be carried out at
ground level. However, a high degree of integration between temporary and permanent works is
required, which demands careful planning in order to minimise disruption to the on-going construction
programme.

Main Span Erection

53 main span segments will later be erected by lifting frames in progressive cantilever erection out
over the Rambler Channel. 18m long segments weighing up to 600T will be lifted with high capacity
winches from a dynamic positioning barge. A 200m square work zone, and an 8 hour window for
lifting operations will ensure minimum disruption to shipping. J acking to match the geometry of the
new segment, supported on winch ropes, to the existing geometry of the cantilever, supported at its
outer edges by the stay cables, will be required to allow the segment joint site welding to take place.

Stay Cables

Nippon Steel are supplying prefabricated parallel wire cables, which arrive on site from China on large
diameter drums. The first stays are unreeled at ground level and lifted up into place to enable the
sockets to be installed into the tower and the deck (Figures 27, 28). Once main span cantilevering
commences, unreeling will take place along the deck. Stressing is performed underneath the deck,
from temporary hanging access platforms to support the heavy jacking equipment. Temporary
measures to control cable vibrations are used until installation of internal hydraulic dampers to achieve
the required level of damping in the permanent condition.


























Figure 27 : Stay cable unreeling and lifting Figure 28 : First stay cable installed


LATEST PROGRESS

By the end of 2007, the bridge construction reached many significant milestones. The concrete back
spans are complete on both sides of the Channel, but each span will remain supported on the
temporary falsework system until the stay cables for that span are in place. The two towers have
reached significant heights, becoming highly visible against the Hong Kong skyline, but with still
some way to go before they culminate at the height of 298m. The heavy lift of the steel deck around
the East Tower took place in J une 2007, the first stay cables were erected here in September 2007.
(Figure 29). A similar heavy lift operation at the West Tower took place in November 2007. Main
span cantilevering commenced at the end of 2007, leading to completion of the bridge in 2009.


























CONCLUSIONS

Any bridge is a realisation of the interaction between the owner, the designer and the constructor.
Stonecutters Bridge is an example of the successful collaboration between the three parties. This
requires a sophisticated and knowledgeable client to set up procedures within the government
procurement rules to acquire the concept, detail design and construction via a competitive route and
yet deliver a visually stunning bridge that is a unique synthesis of architecture and engineering for a
long span bridge.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This paper has been published with the permission of Highways Department, the Government of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.



Figure 29 : Stonecutters Bridge under construction in August 2007


REFERENCES

Free, Pappin & Koo (2004). Hazard Assessment in a Moderate Seismicity Region, Hong Kong, 13
th

World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, August 1-6, 2004, Paper No.
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Lee & Peiris (2004). Modelling of Ship Impact on a Bridge Foundation, IABSE Symposium
Shanghai 2004: Metropolitan Habitats and Infrastructure, IABSE Report, Volume 88, 2004.