Opposition mounts over proposed Macau-Taipa tunnels

The government’s proposal to build two tunnels connecting Taipa and the Macau peninsula has raised controversial debates within the city.
A notice published in the Official Gazette last week indicated that China Communications Construction Company (CCCC Highways Consultants Co.), a subsidiary of a state-owned transportation infrastructure group,  will study the feasibility for the construction of two tunnels linking Macau and Taipa.
The Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) released information indicating that the current plan is for two tunnels to be constructed next to the Governor Nobre de Carvalho Bridge, located at Zone C and Zone D of Novos Aterros Urbanos of Taipa and Zone B of Novos Aterros Urbanos of Macau. A preliminary estimation says that each tunnel will be 1,200 meters long, comprising at least two lanes, one in the direction of Macau and the other to Taipa. Three proposals have been made regarding the project design, either featuring a tunnel on each side of the bridge or both tunnels on the same side.
Professor Sio In Way, visiting professor at the University of Macau, hopes the government can “think over and over again” about the connection of both sides of Macau via tunnels. In Sio’s opinion, the geographical conditions around the old bridge are peculiar, whereby excavating the tunnels will be a highly difficult task, not only spawning a long construction period but also incurring tremendous costs.
According to a Macao Daily News report, Sio is familiar with the soil and the geography of the place since he was involved in construction plans of several local property projects, including ones concerning large casino entities. The scholar said that the river bed under the bridge is shallow and only a few meters deep and that the first 20 meters of soil under the sea are made up of soft mud. Further below the soil, is a mixture of 30 meters of alluvium and original soil. Layers of rocks can only be found by going deeper, he said.
The facts stated above are considered by Sio to pose serious challenges when building the tunnels in the sense that in order to carry out the excavation it will be necessary to get through all the mud and soils until the layer of rocks is reached. Sio even mentioned that a past similar project in Hong Kong took the city more than ten years to finish. He also suggested that  the city should consider building bridges instead of tunnels, because building a bridge, relatively speaking, is easier and takes less time and less money. He believes that building a bridge will take less than five years to construct.
The research period will last for 260 days, and a preliminary report is expected to come out by the middle of next year.  Staff reporter