A feat of architectural engineering and a convenient link between two major Chinese cities, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge is a huge new piece of infrastructure with cutting-edge technology that is transforming the region’s interconnectivity.
Made up of two bridges, two artificial islands and an underwater tunnel, the 15-mile-long structure connects the cities of Shenzhen and Zhongshan Guangdong Province over the Pearl River Delta and opened for travel in June.
For further size perspective, just one of the artificial islands is the equivalent of 48 standard football fields.
It took seven years and £5.2 billion to build – with Chinese designers and contractors setting 10 world records including for the world’s highest bridge deck, at 91 metres, and the highest navigation clearance for a sea bridge.
An immersed tube tunnel running under the waterway is also made up of eight lanes spanning 6,845 metres – making it the longest and widest steel-shell concrete passageway in the world. Vehicles travelling between the cities can reportedly reach speeds of 100km/hour.
The bridge also features smart lighting technology, optimising performance throughout the long stretch of connecting networks and boosting energy efficiency. And among its other quirky features are a team of robots monitoring the underwater tunnel’s infrastructure and keeping an eye out for car accidents, News Atlas reports.
Lin Feiming, head of the Guangdong provincial department of transport, said the route would “reshape the road network layout of the Pearl River Estuary, significantly impacting the economic and social development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).”
The GBA, comprising Hong Kong, Macao and nine cities in Guangdong, is a 56,000-square-metre stretch which China aims to turn into a “global technology and innovation hub” by 2035.
And the bid for interconnectivity was in tune with the wider demand – with around 125,000 vehicles crossing the bridge within 24 hours of its opening, according to the Guangdong Transportation Group.
An extension of the major link, unveiled in October, further cut travel time between the Nansha district in Guangzhou and Shenzhen Baoan International Airport from two hours to just 20 minutes – further cementing the new centre of innovation and the vision of a “one hour traffic circle” in the GBA.
The GBA, which has a population of around 86 million people, is the largest and wealthiest economic region in southern China, with a combined GDP totalling 10% of the figure for the whole country.
