Shatin-to-Central Link – East West Line: connecting communities and transforming neighbourhoods

Sung Wong Toi Station: protecting Song Dynasty culture

Our design for Sung Wong Toi station has considered the loading allowance for future major redevelopment at the former Kai Tak Airport and Sung Wong Toi Park with planned topside development.

Located partly within the historical footprint of Sacred Hill, also known as Hill of the King of Song, the station excavation uncovered a large number of archaeological relics. Due to the size and significance of some of the relics, they needed to be protected in-situ while others were temporarily relocated. Arup was then tasked with re-designing the station to protect the large relics in-situ, allowing reinstatement of these relics at their original levels and orientations. The redesign also accommodates two big display cabinets inside the station concourse for education purposes.

During station excavation a large number of archaeological relics were found within the original station footprint, some of them are large in size that need to be protected in-situ while some were temporarily relocated.

To Kwa Wan Station: traversing the city’s densely-populated urban areas

In response to the tight physical constraints along the line, the To Kwa Wan station box has a stacked platform configuration to reduce the station footprint and hence the excavation width as the box is very close to a number of old buildings with shallow and deep foundations. Mixed ground TBM and cut-and-cover methods were used for the running tunnels and pedestrian subways.

Ho Man Tin Station: creating a vital interchange and vibrant hub

Located at a hilly terrain amidst a mix of public and private residential developments, Ho Man Tin Station spans eight levels with over 70m of elevation difference between the top and bottom.

As an interchange station, Ho Man Tin Station provides convenient connections between the Kwun Tong Line and the Tuen Ma Line, enhancing the overall connectivity of the railway network. One of the station’s key features is its series of pedestrian walkways and lifts that link the station to the surrounding residential areas. These connections offer an all-weather, comfortable walking environment for commuters and residents, especially between the elevated Chung Hau Street neighborhood and the lower-lying Hung Hom district.

The station, along with their entrances, were particularly challenging due to their location, topography and ground conditions, with soft ground and rock excavation as well as man-made obstacles such as dockyard walls and existing foundations. Tunnelling was completed through mixed ground, dominated by the need for rock excavation.

Hin Keng to Diamond Hill Tunnel: engineering an alternative solution

Arup was also involved in tunnel and shaft design for the tender and detailed design of the section between Hin Keng and Diamond Hill

Stations, comprising 1.4km twin TBM tunnels, 2.2km drill-and-blast tunnels, a 40m diameter ventilation shaft, an emergency access shaft, a 100m cut-and-cover tunnel at Hin Keng, and parts of the extension to Diamond Hill Station.

To address challenging geological conditions and risks associated with large span mined tunnel excavation, we redesigned the original large span mined section of Lion Rock Tunnel into three smaller tunnels, making the underground structures easier and safer to build.

The relatively light weight of the underground ventilation building posed a risk of flotation. To address this, we reconfigured the conforming permanent structure and introduced an underslab drainage system below the base slab to relieve the uplift groundwater pressure, eliminating the need for tension piles and thick slabs.

This innovative solution reduced the risk of adverse ground movement to nearby buildings and simplified the construction of diaphragm walls in hard rock. It also significantly reduced the volume of excavated materials (approximately 15,000m3) for the ventilation building and the Lion Rock Tunnel, resulting in a reduction of about 1,000 tonnes of carbon emission reduction.