World’s longest LEGO bridge in HK

The world’s longest span bridge built with LEGO® bricks is on public display at ELEMENTS in West Kowloon, Hong Kong from 21 March to 22 April 2018.

The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), in partnership with infrastructure firm AECOM and MTR Corporation, unveiled the 33-metre-long engineering marvel. Assisting them to bring this construction to Hong Kong is Bright Bricks, the UK-based builder of large-scale LEGO® constructions worldwide and LEGO® Certified Professionals.

Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, Chief Secretary for Administration of the Government of the Hong Kong S.A.R., was the officiating guest for the exhibition’s official opening to the public.

Designed by Dr. Robin Sham, AECOM’s Global Long Span and Specialty Bridges Director, the bridge was built with more than 260,000 LEGO® bricks. With the longest span measuring 16 meters, it weighs more than a half-metric ton. The model suspension bridge was first assembled in 2016 at the ICE library in London and was awarded a Guinness World Record distinction.

“Connecting people and places by bridges is one of the most challenging but satisfying of all human endeavours,” said Dr Sham. “Over the years, across my career with AECOM, my work on other landmark bridges such as the Stonecutters and Sutong Bridges, two of the world’s longest cable-stayed bridges, has expanded to creating long span bridges in many countries across the globe.”

This exhibition is part of ICE Hong Kong’s celebrations in conjunction with ICE’s 200th anniversary in 2018. “As one of its largest membership regions in the world, ICE Hong Kong Association wished to commemorate this bicentennial in a fun, informative and seminal way,” said Professor Ken Ho, Chairman, ICE Hong Kong Association. “With this exhibition, we showcase civil engineering and wish to ignite new excitement for the ingenuity, creativity and contributions of our profession amongst a new generation of Hong Kong youth,”

“World-class infrastructure has been critical to Hong Kong’s continuous ranking among the world’s most competitive economies, and civil engineering has played a pivotal role in this: from delivering next-generation bridges, tunnels and integrated transport systems that enhance mobility; to resilient slopes that boost safety; to reclamation and caverns for increased land supply; and to sustainable water and waste management systems,” added AECOM’s Greater China Chief Executive Charlton Wong. — Construction+ Online