Hong Kong Opens the Lantau Link

On April 27, 1997, at a ceremony featuring former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher as its keynote speaker, the Southeast Asian port city of Hong Kong officially opened the Lantau Link. The Lantau Link connects Hong Kong with a new international airport and other facilities located offshore at and around Lantau Island. It consists of three main structures. The first is the Tsing Ma Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge for both road and rail traffic. Approximately 1.3 miles long, it contains roughly 500,000 cubic yards of concrete, 50,000 tons of steel, and 100,000 miles of suspension cables. The second is the Kap Shui Mun Bridge, which is the world's longest span cable-stayed road-and-rail bridge. It is over 800 yards long. The third is the Ma Wan Viaduct, an elevated roadway consisting of a series of short spans supported by pillars, which is over 500 yards long. Regular traffic began crossing the Lantau Link on May 22, 1997.

The opening ceremony featured Mrs. Thatcher because Hong Kong was at the time a British Crown colony, although it has now been semi-integrated with mainland China. During her speech she said that “there could be no better symbol of the boldness, the vision, and the energy of the people of Hong Kong than the Tsing Ma Bridge.” There were also fireworks displays, laser light shows, and other festivities to celebrate the occasion. The link is designed to last for over a century and ranks as one of the engineering and architectural marvels of the modern world.