The Cross-Harbour Tunnel (abbreviated CHT or XHT) is the first tunnel in Hong Kong built underwater. It consists of two steel road tunnels, each with two lanes constructed using the single shell

immersed tube An immersed tube (or immersed tunnel) is a kind of undersea tunnel composed of segments, Modular construction, constructed elsewhere and floated to the tunnel site to be sunk into place and then linked together. They are commonly used for road an ...

method. It is the earliest of three

vehicular harbour crossings in Hong Kong There are three vehicular harbour crossings in Hong Kong, linking the Kowloon peninsula with Hong Kong Island. They are as follows: * History Prior to the opening of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, vehicular traffic travelling across the Victoria ...

, opened for traffic in 1972. It was constructed under a 30-year private-sector franchise based on a

build–operate–transfer Build–operate–transfer (BOT) or build–own–operate–transfer (BOOT) is a form of project delivery method, usually for large-scale infrastructure projects, wherein a private entity receives a concession (contract), concession from the public ...

(BOT) model, and the title passed to the

Hong Kong government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...

in 1999 upon termination of the franchise. It has become one of the most congested roads in Hong Kong and the world, with 116,753 vehicles passing through it daily in 2013.

History

The Hong Kong government used the BOT model for the implementation of the tunnel project; financing and construction was the responsibility of a private enterprise, which was granted a concession to operate and collect tolls for 30 years. The concession was given to the then Cross-Harbour Tunnel Company Limited ( zh, t=香港隧道有限公司), today the Cross-Harbour Holdings Limited (), which was founded in 1965 to carry out the tunnel project. The Hong Kong government participated to the tune of 20% in order not to fully hand over their influence on the project. The tunnel was designed with two lanes in each direction for a capacity of 80,000 vehicles. The project was structurally managed jointly by the British engineering firms Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Partners and Freeman Fox & Partners. The tunnel links the main financial and commercial districts on both sides of

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbor, harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. It acts as both a major trading hub and tourist attraction of Hong Kong in general. Lying in ...

, connecting

Kellett Island Kellett Island is a former island of Victoria Harbour, off East Point in Hong Kong. It is now connected to Hong Kong Island at Causeway Bay following land reclamation in 1969. It is located in Wan Chai District. Facilities The main bu ...

(a former island now connected to

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...

by reclamation), with a reclaimed site on the western side of

Hung Hom Bay Hung Hom Bay was a bay in Victoria Harbour, between Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom in the southeast of Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong. Since 1994, parts of the bay were reclaimed, and by 2019 it had been completely extinguished. All of present- ...

Kowloon Kowloon () is one of the areas of Hong Kong, three areas of Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is an urban area comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a populat ...

, off then Hong Kong Technical College. The toll plaza is located at the Hung Hom end of the tunnel, and has 14 toll booths. It provides the first road link and the first link for land transport between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Prior to the opening of the tunnel, cross-harbour vehicular traffic depended on ferries and for passengers, the

Star Ferry The Star Ferry () is a passenger ferry service operator and tourist attraction in Hong Kong. Its principal routes carry passengers across Victoria Harbour, between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. The service is operated by the Star Ferry Com ...

. The project was joint-engineered by Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Partners and

Freeman Freeman, free men, Freeman's or Freemans may refer to: Places United States * Freeman, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Freeman, South Dako ...

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

& Partners. Construction began in September 1969 and was to last four years. The concession period ran from the start of construction, and the operator accordingly completed the construction one year faster than planned. On 2 August 1972, the tunnel was opened for traffic, charging HK$5 per car crossing. After just three and a half years of operation, the operator had recouped the construction costs. In 1984, the Hong Kong Government introduced a tax in addition to the operator's toll to make the overcrowded tunnel less priced. The price for a car transit was now HK$10. In 1993, an electronic toll collection system was installed. Together with measures to control the flow of traffic, the vehicle capacity could be increased. It was administered by The Cross-Harbour Tunnel Company Ltd until August 1999, when the operation franchise agreement expired and the government assumed control. From 1 November 2010, the tunnel was managed, operated and maintained by

Serco Serco Group plc is a British multinational corporation, multinational military, defence, Healthcare, health, Space industry, space, private prison, justice, Human migration, migration, customer service, customer services, and transport company ...

on a contract basis."Transport–Cross-Harbour Tunnel"
/ref> The tunnel was then operated by Chun Wo Tunnel Management Limited, which was awarded a contract lasting from 2016 to 2022. On 1 November 2022,

took over from Chun Wo Tunnel Management Limited. The 2017 Hong Kong action film ''

Shock Wave In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...

'', starring

Andy Lau Andy Lau Tak-wah ( zh, order=t,j, t=劉德華, j=Lau4 Dak1 Waa4; born Lau Fook-wing; 27 September 1961), is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He was named the "Fourth Tiger" among the Five Tiger Generals of TVB in the 1 ...

, set its main plot in the tunnel. In November 2019, Hong Kong protesters set roadblocks across the northern tunnel entrance and set fire to tollbooths, as many roads around the Polytechnic University were blocked, leading to the closure of the tunnel for a dozen of days.

Fees

The tunnel generates approximately HK$700 million in annual toll revenue. In 2023, manual toll collectors have been phased out wit
HKeToll
an electronic toll collection service introduced by the Transport Department. Cash and Octopus Cards are no longer be accepted for payment, and the toll booths have been removed from the entrances of the tunnel.

Transport

, there are 44 bus routes passing through the tunnel.

Gallery

File:Cross Harbour Tunnel 05-11-2022(2).jpg, Cross-Harbour tunnel entrance seen from

Causeway Bay Causeway Bay is list of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong, an area and Victoria Park, Hong Kong, a bay on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, straddling the border of the Eastern District, Hong Kong, Eastern and the Wan Chai District, Wan Chai ...

, November 2022. File:Hk-cross-harbour-tunnel-005.png, Inside the Kowloon-bound tunnel, 2013

References

External links

Cross-Harbour Tunnel By-laws
(chapter 2301, ''Laws of Hong Kong'')

984 Ed. Year 984 ( CMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – German boy-king Otto III (4 years old) is seized by the deposed Henry II, Duke of Bavaria ("the Wrangler"), who h ...