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After Kap Shui Mun Bridge had been collided by a vessel on October 23 at night, the Highways Department (HyD) inspected the bridge structure immediately. The inspection revealed no structural damage to the bridge. The incident did not affect the structural safety of the bridge.
The HyD continued to carry out a detailed inspection of the collided part of Kap Shui Mun Bridge this morning (October 24), including the use of a bridge inspection vehicle (i.e. an engineering truck equipped with an extendable arm specifically designed for the inspection of long-span bridges) by lowering its extendable arm to the underside of the bridge for the engineering personnel to undertake close visual inspection of the structural components at the bridge soffit and to determine the damage condition. The detailed inspection was completed at about 4pm, indicating that the major structural components at the bridge soffit had not been damaged and the overall structural condition of the bridge was satisfactory. Only the six rails for carrying the inspection platform near the mid-span of the bridge, which are non-structural installations attached to the bridge soffit, were found damaged by the collision. Some bolts near these rails were found missing and this did not affect the structural safety of the bridge.
The HyD has instructed the operator of Tsing Ma Control Area to complete the repair of damaged components as soon as possible, including the damaged optical fibres, the rails of the inspection platform and the missing bolts. The HyD will keep on monitoring the bridge condition and the repair works undertaken by the operator to ensure the road safety.
Ends/Saturday, October 24, 2015
Issued at HKT 19:22
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