On the 11.11.2015 the final blast underneath Lion Rock, finished the 2.4 km  tunnel stretch from Hin Keng to Kai Tak for the Shatin to Central Link (SCL) Project. 60% of the tunnel excavation works have been completed for the Tai Wai to Hung Hom Section of the rail line.

To cope with the mixed ground conditions encountered in excavating the tunnels between Hin Keng and Kai Tak, different construction methods have been adopted:

• for the tunnels from Hin Keng beneath Lion Rock to Ma Chai Hang, a drill and blast method was used with over 500 blasts carried out since the works began in January 2014, and approximately 360,000 cubic metres of rock have been removed;
• the tunnel section between Ma Chai Hang and Kai Tak via Diamond Hill was constructed by using two TBMs, named Mu Gui-ying and Nu-wa. While Mu Gui-ying completed her mission of excavating the 750 m tunnels between Diamond Hill and Kai Tak on the 12.10.2015, Nu-wa, which is responsible for the tunnel boring works between Ma Chai Hang and Diamond Hill, completed the up-track tunnel in June this year and is now busy working on the down-track drive which started in late September.

The Hin Keng to Kai Tak Section is one of the most critical tunneling works of the SCL project which allows them to run new train services directly from the New Territories to urban Kowloon.

On top of the difficult geological conditions at Lion Rock, there was also the complications of tunneling underneath the existing railway tunnels of the Kwun Tong Line and various busy traffic arteries such as Prince Edward Road East and Choi Hung Roadhad. Click cn/63 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit http://www.mtr.com.hk/ and http://www.mtr-shatincentrallink.hk/. 49/15.