Western Harbour Crossing

Western Harbour Crossing
西區海底隧道
Western Harbour Crossing tunnel entrance and exit at West Kowloon side.
Overview
Coordinates22°18′5″N 114°9′24″E / 22.30139°N 114.15667°E / 22.30139; 114.15667
StatusActive
RoutePart of Route 3
StartWest Kowloon
EndSai Ying Pun
Operation
ConstructedAugust 1993 to April 1997
Opened30 April 1997; 27 years ago (1997-04-30)
OwnerHong Kong Government
OperatorPacific Infrastructure Limited
TrafficVehicular
Characterimmersed tube
TollYes
Vehicles per day~180,000
Technical
Length1,975 metres (6,480 ft)
No. of lanes6 lanes (3 lanes per direction) in road tunnel with 4 lanes per direction on exit
Operating speed80 kilometres per hour (50 mph)
Map
Western Harbour Crossing
Traditional Chinese西區海底隧道
Simplified Chinese西区海底隧道
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinXīqū Hǎidǐ Suìdào
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationSāikēui Hóidái Seuihdouh
Jyutpingsai1 keoi1 hoi2 dai2 seoi6 dou6

The Western Harbour Crossing (WHC) is a dual three-lane immersed tube tunnel in Hong Kong. It is the third road tunnel to cross Victoria Harbour, linking reclaimed land in Yau Ma Tei in West Kowloon with Sai Ying Pun on Hong Kong Island. It was constructed by the Western Harbour Tunnel Company Limited (WHTCL), which also operated the tunnel from 1993 to 2023 under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) on a 30-year franchise contract with the Hong Kong government.

The tunnel is the first three-lane road tunnel in Asia to be constructed using submerged pipe.[1]: 7–11  It was built as part of the Airport Core Programme, which included other infrastructure projects to support the Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok. The tunnel carries on the Route 3 designation from the West Kowloon Highway and connects to Route 4 on Hong Kong Island.

  1. ^ OMEGA Centre of Excellence work on Mega Urban Transport Projects (25 July 2011). Project Profile: Hong Kong West Harbour Crossing (PDF) (Report). UCL Bartlett School of Planning. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 September 2014.