NEWS & EVENTS ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

World’s longest sea-crossing bridge finally open!

Chinese President Xi Jinping declared open a new bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau and the Chinese city of Zhuhai, at 10am, 23 October 2018.

The 55-kilometre Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge—the longest sea-crossing bridge ever built—has been a controversial project of sorts. With work beginning in 2009, the construction period stretched over nine years, with a two-year delay and cost overrun of billions of dollars. Safety issues were also a challenge in this project, with 10 fatalities and more than 600 injured during its construction according to according to the Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims.

CONNECTIVITY

Still the bridge is a key milestone in Beijing’s broader push to create the ‘Greater Bay Area’—a technology-led economic hub covering 56,500 square kilometers, comprising Hong Kong, Macau and nine mainland cities, with the aim of rivalling California’s Silicon Valley.

At the opening ceremony, attended by about 700 guests, vice-premier Han Zheng said the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge is the first infrastructure project that the three places had worked together on, and it will continue to spur economic and tourism development in the area.

“It facilitates the people of all three places for greater exchange in economics and trade. It also enhances the competitiveness of the Pearl River Delta,” said Han, as reported in The South China Morning Post.

The bridge is expected to cut journey times between the three cities from three hours to under an hour, enabling commuters and tourists to move easily around the region. It is expected to boost economic development and tourism in the area.

Incorporating 400,000 tons of steel—4.5 times that of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge—the bridge is built to withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake, a super typhoon and strikes by super-sized cargo vessels.

It also includes a 6.7-kilometre submerged tunnel, running between two artificial islands, to help it avoid Pearl River Delta shipping paths. — Construction+ Online