China’s mammoth infrastructure project, the 24 km, eight-lane Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge link, is scheduled to be completed ahead of schedule this year at a cost of approximately $6.7 billion.

The bridge, which includes an under-sea section, upon its completion will connect two major cities on the Pearl River Delta (PRD) in China, the city of Shenzhen on the eastern side of the PRD and Zhongshan on the western side. It comprises a series of bridges and tunnels, starting from Bao’an International Airport on the Shenzhen side.

It is strategically located 27 km downriver from the Humen Bridge, the only current bridge crossing of the estuary, and some 32 km north of the new Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, which links the cities of Hong Kong, Zhuhai, and Macau at the southern end of the PRD. Construction started in May 2017 with an opening date in 2024.

The project consists of a 6.7-km tunnel starting on the Shenzhen side and 19 bridges totalling 43 km. There are four lanes in each direction, with a maximum speed of 100 km/hour. The bridge will join the Guangshen Expressway to the south of Shenzhen airport and the Jihe Expressway to the east of the airport on the eastern side of the delta with the Zhongjiang Expressway on the western side.

It will cut travel time from Shenzhen to Zhongshan to less than 30 minutes from the current two hours.

The Shenzhen-Zhongshan link is the world’s largest-span steel box girder suspension bridge. Its two main towers are 270 metres high, which is equivalent to the height of a 90-story building.

The Lingdingyang Bridge has a total of 213 steel box girders, and the first one on the west side is 12.8 metres long, 49.7 metres wide and weighs about 284 tons, with a lifting height (from the bridge deck to the sea) of 90 metres.

The bridges are not only massive but also majestic in scale, as scores of journalists from Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and People’s Daily were taken to the centre span of the bridge for an ‘on-site briefing and a ride up the gantry elevator and a catwalk along the cable span.

The journalists were there courtesy People’s Daily, which had organised the 2023 Lancang-Mekong (LMC) Cooperation Media Summit and Workshop from June 27 to July 4.

“The Greater Bay Area, where Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge is located, is home to 68 million people, covers 21,800 square miles and encompasses 11 cities – Hong Kong, Macao and nine others, including Zhongshan and Shenzhen.

“Shenzhen alone is home to more than 12 million people, not to mention scores of multibillion-dollar firms such as drone-maker DJI and social media company Tencent that have helped to earn it the moniker of “China’s Silicon Valley,” a spokesperson for the project constructor, China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), said.

“Travel times between Zhongshan and the Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport, mainland China’s third busiest, which hosted over 37 million passengers in 2019, is expected to be cut from two hours (using current roads) to 30 minutes, resulting in enormous time and cost savings,” she said.

Video by Raquel R Bacay

The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge is the first expressway underwater hub interconnection in China. It integrates “bridges, islands, tunnels, and underwater intercommunication.”

“At present, the bridge project with a total length of 17.2 kilometres has been closed, and the construction of the 6,845-metre-long and deep channel sub-sea tunnel has entered the final sprint stage. The final joint of the Shenzhong Channel was pushed successfully, and the sub-sea tunnel has closed,” the CCCC spokesperson pointed out.

Khmer Times General Manager and Specialist Writer, Ms Raquel R. Bacay, was among those who took a gantry elevator up to the top of the tower and had a ‘catwalk’ along the cables. She described the experience as breathtaking.

“If not for the rather cold, windy, and misty weather, I could get a spectacular 360-degree view of the bridge and tunnel under construction, especially the section that heads into the sea and also the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge,” she said.

• Tags: China, Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge