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The Hong Kong Airport Core Programme (Traditional Chinese: 香港機場核心計劃) was a series of infrastructural works organised by the government of Hong Kong during the 1990s, with the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok as its central project. The programme was part of Port and Airport Development Strategy, more commonly known as Rose Garden Project. The whole plan cost HK$ 160.2 billion (160,200,000,000) and is the most expensive infrastructural project in Hong Kong ever realised to date.

Contents 1 History 2 Projects 3 Exhibition 4 External links 5 References

The plan to construct a new airport to replace the old Kai Tak Airport has been discussed since 1970s. The plan was shelved in 1983 because the future of Hong Kong was not clear and the then government did not have enough budget for such an expensive project. In 1984, as the Sino-British Joint Declaration was settled, the Hong Kong government decided to go forward with the plan. The plan was announced on October 11, 1989 by the then Governor Wilson, and it was perceived as part of the government's effort to reinstate confidence in Hong Kong after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The Hong Kong public was initially surprised by the huge budget and there were concerns if it would drain much of public revenue. The programme was completed as the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok opened in July 1998.

The programme included:

• Construction of a new Hong Kong International Airport north of Lantau Island
• Building of bridges (including the Tsing Ma Bridge) to connect Lantau Island with Kowloon Peninsula
• Construction of expressways between the new airport and the urban area
• Land reclamation in west Kowloon for construction of roadways
• Construction of a third cross-harbour tunnel (Western Harbour Crossing) between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island
• Land reclamation in northern part of Hong Kong Island to make way for roads
• Development of a new town in Tung Chung on northern Lantau
• Construction of a high speed rail line connecting the airport and Tung Chung with urban areas

• An exhibition centre, Airport Core Programme Exhibition Centre, introducing the programme is located in Ting Kau near Tsuen Wan in Hong Kong.

• Airport Core Program website

• ↑  CONEXPO-CON/AGG '99 (1999). Top 10 Construction Achievements of the 20th Century. ISBN 0-9530219-5-5. Retrieved November 10, 2005.