China Unveils Usd 20m World’s Longest Sea-crossing Bridge

• 8 May 2018
• Construction Focus
• 3722 Views

China recently unveiled the world’s longest sea-crossing bridge connecting mainland Chinese city Zhuhai and the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, according to CNN.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge stretches 55 kilometres along the Pearl River Delta and also comprises of a 6.7-kilometre long submerged tunnel connected by two artificial islands. The tunnel is made of 33 blocks, with each block weighing 80,000 tons, about the same as an aircraft carrier. This underground tunnel is built to avoid disturbance to the more than 4,000 vessels moving within the area every day.

The bridge is the first ever mega infrastructure of its kind. At 20 times the size of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, it is made from 420,000 tons of steel which is enough to build 60 Eiffel Towers.

To complete this record-setting megastructure, experts from 14 countries including UK, US, Denmark, Switzerland, Japan, Netherlands, and others worked with Chinese engineers on the gigantic project.

With an estimated budget of USD20 billion, the project was first started in 2011 and the installation of the final piece took place in May 2017.

Due to open to the public this summer, the bridge will help cut the travel time in half between the three big economic regions of Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai in Guangdong province, with more than 40,000 vehicles expected to cross every day.

The mega-structure can be seen as a physical manifestation of the Chinese leadership and is a part of China’s master plan to develop its own Greater Bay Area.

The bridge is one of two major infrastructure projects set to open in the region this year with the other being a high-speed rail link to China.