The 24km (15 mile) cross-sea span, which will connect the city of Zhongshan with the tech hub of Shenzhen across the Pearl River estuary, comprises two bridges, two artificial islands and one undersea tunnel that is 6.8km long and 46 meters (151 feet) wide, making it the world’s largest and widest undersea steel shell concrete tube tunnel, according to the Shenzhen government website.
The Lingdingyang Bridge, a key part of the link, with a main span of 1,666 meters, is the world’s largest offshore steel box girder suspension bridge, the website said.
The two-way, eight-lane mega project is expected to shorten the drive from two hours to less than 30 minutes between the two cities, according to an article this month in China Highway, a magazine published by China Communications Construction Group.
The 44.69 billion yuan (US$6.16 billion) project is expected to be a key link in the Greater Bay Area, a mega city plan designed on the scale of similar metropolitan areas in Tokyo Bay, New York and San Francisco.
The Greater Bay Area is one of the world’s most densely populated bay areas, and consists of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau and nine major cities in the souther province of Guangdong: Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhaoqing, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Huizhou, Zhuhai, Zhongshan and Jiangmen.
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Construction begins for major sea crossing to link Shenzhen and Zhongshan in Greater Bay Area
Construction begins for major sea crossing to link Shenzhen and Zhongshan in Greater Bay Area
In 2023, the region generated 14 trillion yuan (US$1.93 trillion) in economic output, equivalent to 11 per cent of China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Shenzhen is considered China’s Silicon Valley and is home to tech and manufacturing giants including DJI, Tencent and BYD, with many manufacturing plants located in the district of Baoan, the starting point of the bridge in Shenzhen.
Baoan has an average of 18 hi-tech enterprises per square km, 15 times the density of the rest of the Greater Bay Area, state broadcaster CCTV reported last year.
Zhongshan, at the other end of the bridge, is a traditional manufacturing city that is expected to directly benefit from the new link by providing a cheaper option to companies and industries wishing to locate away from the more expensive area of Shenzhen.
The project was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission in late 2015 and construction started one year later.
Aside from improved connectivity within the Greater Bay Area, the link is expected to help address the imbalance in economic development between the eastern and western parts of the Pearl River Delta.
At the end of last year, the total GDP on the side of the Pearl River Delta, represented by Shenzhen and Dongguan, was five times that of the west side bank, represented by Zhongshan and Zhuhai, Hong Kong Commercial Daily said in a report on May 31.
