Lai Chi Kok Bridge, Road bridge in Sham Shui Po District, Hong Kong.
Lai Chi Kok Bridge is a 790-metre concrete viaduct carrying Kwai Chung Road, part of Route 5, through Mei Foo Sun Chuen. It has 29 spans and three lanes in each direction; the section over the former bay has pavements on both sides. White lane markings and large English and Chinese characters are painted on the asphalt.
The bridge opened in 1968 and represented a major step in Hong Kong's infrastructure development during a period of rapid growth. Its construction improved connections between Kowloon and the western parts of the city.
The bridge runs through Mei Foo Sun Chuen, a private estate of 99 blocks built at the same time. Under its deck are the estate's wet market, bus terminus, an open plaza and a community centre, daily facilities for residents.
Pavements run along both sides only on the section that crossed the former bay, west of the slip roads; elsewhere the deck carries traffic alone. The eastbound slip road leaves for Cheung Sha Wan Road and the westbound one enters from Lai Chi Kok Road. The deck is limited to 70 km/h, dropping to 50 km/h eastbound over the Mei Foo bus terminus.
The bridge required underpinning to handle the extra load from the fill that created the land beneath it. In 2000, construction of the West Rail station directly below caused the bridge to shift upward by 14 mm, later reaching 31 mm before settling. The Transport Department's traffic census calls it the Lai Chi Kok Bay Bridge.
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