China opens world’s longest sea bridge
BEIJING : President Xi Jinping on Tuesday inaugurated the world’s longest sea bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai city on the mainland as Beijing steps up efforts to create a new economic base in southern China. Described as a mega infrastructure project, the 55-km Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, which includes a seven-kilometre underwater tunnel, was inaugurated within weeks of the opening of a high-speed rail link between Beijing and Hong Kong.
Built at a cost of $15 billion, work on the bridge began in 2009.
It is expected to ease the movement of cargo between Hong Kong and southern China and boost tourism in the region.
Ahead of the inauguration, state media reported the bridge was made with “enough steel to build 60 Eiffel Towers” and would withstand magnitude-8 earthquakes and super typhoons. The bridge will slash travel time between Hong Kong and Zhuhai from three hours to 30 minutes, as per Xinhua news agency.
But access to it will be restricted. “Hong Kong residents will be granted a licence to cross into Zhuhai by car only if they meet highly selective criteria, including holding certain mainland government positions or making major contributions to charities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong,” Singapore-based Channel News Asia reported. “We were at a loss in terms of existing long sea bridge projects we could learn from,” said Luo Dong, vice general project manager for the Island and Tunnel Project of the bridge.
“The water conditions of the Pearl River Delta are so complicated. Building a bridge and tunnel system in this area was a real challenge.”