The Public Works Bureau (DSOP) has released further details of the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) East Line Extension project, according to which the consortium tasked with building its underground tunnel must complete the work within 1,035 calendar days, or two years and 10 months.
In addition, the government has launched the preliminary design phase for the extension’s two stations, located at the Qingmao pedestrian border checkpoint in Ilha Verde and at the future sports park in Fai Chi Kei.
According to the latest details, published on the DSOP website on Saturday, the government has contracted the consortium to construct the underground tunnel for the 1.5-kilometre LRT East Line Extension at a cost of 1.726 billion patacas. This figure does not include the construction of the extension’s two stations.
However, the government has yet to announce the exact schedule for when construction of the underground tunnel will begin.
The ongoing LRT East Line project, which commenced in 2023, is a 7.7-kilometre section connecting the Barrier Gate checkpoint at the peninsula’s northern tip to the Taipa Ferry Terminal via the Zone A and Zone E1 land reclamation areas. The East Line will cross the sea between Zone A and Zone E1 through an undersea tunnel and is scheduled to enter service in 2029.
Construction of the main LRT East Line carries a total price tag of 9.28 billion patacas and is being executed through two separate tenders: the 2.9-kilometre northern section and the 4.8-kilometre southern section.
The LRT East Line northern section is being built for 4.47 billion patacas by a consortium consisting of China Civil Engineering Construction (Macau) Company Limited, Nam Kwong Real Estate Company Limited, and the Macau Representative Office of China Railway 16th Bureau Group Company Limited.
The southern section is being built for 4.81 billion patacas by a consortium comprising the Macau Branch of China State Construction Engineering (Hong Kong) Limited, China Construction Engineering (Macau) Company Limited, and the Macau Branch of Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Company Limited.
Like the main LRT East Line, the East Line Extension will be built entirely underground.
For the main LRT East Line, the underground station serving the Barrier Gate checkpoint is tentatively known as ES1 Station.
Starting from ES1 Station, the underground LRT East Line Extension will run beneath the square in front of the Barrier Gate checkpoint and the adjacent Dr. Sun Yat Sen Municipal Park before reaching Qingmao Station. From there, it will run beneath Avenida do General Castelo Branco to the future sports park, according to the DSOP website.
The sports park is being built on the site of the former greyhound racetrack (Yat Yuen Canidrome). Construction of the sports park’s first phase began early this year and is slated for completion in 2029.
The facility is officially named the Residents Sports Park, and the future LRT station serving it will be known as Residents Sports Park Station.
The upcoming 1.726-billion-pataca project covers the construction of the underground tunnel between ES1 Station and Residents Sports Park Station. The tunnel will be built using a tunnel boring machine, according to the DSOP website.
The contract does not include the construction of the LRT East Line Extension’s two stations – Qingmao Station and Residents Sports Park Station.
The consortium for the LRT East Line Extension’s underground tunnel consists of China Civil Engineering Construction (Macau) Company Limited, Nam Kwong Real Estate Company Limited, and the Macau Representative Office of China Railway 16th Bureau Group Company Limited – the same consortium currently executing the LRT East Line northern-section project.
The DSOP website says that as the tunnel works for the ongoing LRT East Line northern-section project are now in their final stages, the final drive of the tunnel boring machine currently used for the northern section will conclude at ES1 Station. Consequently, the East Line is now in a position to be extended westwards from ES1 Station to the Qingmao checkpoint and the future sports park.
The website says that it is technically feasible to continue using the tunnel boring machine for the excavation of the East Line Extension’s tunnel.
Furthermore, the website says, since a tunnel boring machine is a large-scale, custom-built piece of construction equipment, the reuse of the northern section’s tunnel boring machine for the execution of the extension will significantly save time and costs. Taking into account project management efficiency, the complexity of construction coordination, and project cost control, the government decided to hire the same consortium for the ongoing LRT East Line northern-section project to construct the extension’s tunnel.
A seven-seater vehicle is driven past a government plot in front of the Qingmao checkpoint building on Saturday. The future underground LRT Qingmao Station will be located on the plot. – Photos: Tony Wong
Vehicles are driven past the construction site of the ongoing sports park project on Avenida do General Castelo Branco on Saturday, where the future underground LRT Residents Sports Park Station will be located.
This map downloaded from the Public Works Bureau’s (DSOP) website shows the future LRT East Line Extension’s underground tunnel (yellow line), ES1 Station (top, right), Qingmao Station (top, left), and Residents Sports Park Station.
