Stonecutters Bridge

I’ve crossed this bridge a ton of times in the last four days and I’m amazed by it. Commenced in 2004, it has only been opened to traffic since 2009, having been completed a few months before its opening. Not surprisingly, it was awarded a prize in 2010, called the Supreme Award. The design was picked by the Highways Department of Hong Kong through a competition but it was further developed by Arup, a British company. Its architecture is unique in Hong Kong and if it looks awesome from afar, it’s even greater when you’re driving on it, as you realize just how huge it is. There are three lanes in each direction and it’s about 1,6 Km. long (second longest cable-​suspended bridge in the world!). There are two main towers made of concrete and composite through which the cables run and this is the distinctive feature of the bridge. As with every other construction in Hong Kong, during the design, a lot of though was put into the winds impact on it and this issue took a lot of time in the planning of the bridge.
It’s become a landmark in Hong Kong, not only for its features but also because of its functionality, as it connects West Kowloon and Hong Kong International Airport. For me that was a great discovery, because I could not only arrive to the airport in a shorter time than I had planned, but also because it’s great to drive along such a great piece of engineering.