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.