Route 9 between Cheung Sha Wan and Sha Tin is a 5.9 km dual three-lane highway including the Eagle's Nest tunnel, a 2.1 km dual three-lane tunnel with a 500 m tunnel approach at Butterfly Valley, and the Sha Tin Heights tunnel, a 1 km-long dual three-lane tunnel with a 600 m dual two-lane tunnel approach. A jv of Maunsell and Hyder has been appointed as design and construction consultants. Construction to start in October 2002. Completion in April 2007. Visit www.hyd.gov.hk 20/02. The government has awarded a HK$1.07 billion contract for the construction of the Sha Tin Heights tunnel and approaches to Route 9 between Cheung Sha Wan and Sha Tin to the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) in joint venture with China Rail Construction Corporation (CRCC). The contract involves a one km-long dual three-lane tunnel under Sha Tin Heights and a 600 m-long dual two-lane tunnel approach road in Tai Wai. When completed in mid-2007, this section of Route 9 will provide a direct connection between Sha Tin and west Kowloon relieving congestion at Lion Rock tunnel, Tate's Cairn tunnel and Tai Po Road. Visit www.hyd.gov.hk/road/projects/index.htm 47/02. Gammon Skanska won a US$192 million contract from the Highways Department to build the 1.2 km Nam Wan tunnel, an 11 m-wide twin-tube link at the southern part of Tsing Yi Island on Route 9 highway between Tsing Yi and Cheung Sha Wan. Drill/blast excavation in granite and volcanic rocks. Visit www.hyd.gov.hk/road/Projects/index.htm and www.gammonhk.com 18/03.For excavation of the Shatin Heights tunnels jv contractor China State Construction-China Railway has ordered two Rocket Boomer XL3 C and one Rocket Boomer L2 C drillrigs from Atlas Copco, all fully computerized, together with maintenance and spares contracts. The units will be delivered between June and August, 2003, and excavation is expected to take a year. Click here for machine specifications and case studies. Visit www.atlascopco.com, www.hyd.gov.hk/road/Projects/index.htm and www.hkconsult.com 20/03.Leighton and Kumagai Gumi won a HK$1.8 billion ($237 million) contract to build the twin 2.1 km three-lane Eagle's Nest road tunnel on the Route 9 corridor. The tunnel will link Butterfly Valley in Kowloon with Sha Tin in Hong Kong's New Territories. The work will begin in October 2003 and is scheduled to be completed in December 2006. Visit www.hyd.gov.hk/road/projects/index.htm, www.leighton.com.au and www.kumagaigumi.co.jp 42/03.