DRAGON ON THE SEA

2 min read

Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Earth has not anything to show more fair:Dull would he be of soul who could pass by A sight so touching in its majesty: This City now doth like a garment wear The beauty of the morning: silent, bare, Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie Open unto the fields, and to the sky, All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

Composed upon Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth onsidering New York City’s glamorous Grand Central Station with its iconic main hall, paired with the Statue of Liberty nearby, and London’s gothic St Pancras Station, originally opened in 1868 and dubbed the’cathedral of the railways”, what does Zhuhai’s recently unveiled sea-spanning bridge network say about the city? One thing is for sure, judging by its sheer size and architectural scope, Zhuhai is surely a city on the move; ambitious, forward thinking, and not afraid to make a statement.

Even before it was completed, the futuristic bridge wouldn’t have looked out of place in a Stanley Kubrick film.he bridge-tunnel system consists of a series of three cable-stayed bridges and one undersea tunnel, as well as three artificial islands, spanning the Lingding Channel that connects Hong Kong with Macao and Zhuhai on the Pearl River DeltaPRD). The 55-kilometer, sea-crossing link is among the longest fixed-links in the world and is undoubtedly the most dazzling landmark in the Pearl River Delta area.

Construction formally kicked off in earnest on 15 December 2009. The final tunnel joint was installed on May 2, 2017, with the bridge formally declared completed two months later, and unveiled to traffic on October 24, 2018.

The concept of the project is similar to that of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in Virginia, United States and the Oresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden, with a 6.75km undersea tunnel allowing large container vessels to pass Providing a direct link for passengers and freight traffic heading for the western part of the PRD, the bridge helps alleviate the heavy traffic congestion at the Hong KongShenzhen Exit and Entry Inspection facilities and reduces the economic losses arising from the daily hold-up at these crossings.

The ocean-crossing span promises to add power to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to give full play to its unique resources of ports, tourism attractions and fishing industry.