China’s President Xi Jinping has officially opened the world’s longest sea-crossing bridge, a 55-km-long (34-mile) structure linking mainland China to the semi-autonomous territories of Hong Kong and Macau. The 55km crossing, which consists of three cable-stayed spans and an undersea tunnel, will replace the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, also in China, to become the world’s longest sea bridge by aggregate length.
Infographics: First traffic to cross Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bri...
The main bridge section will provide a dual three-lane carriageway to handle traffic speeds of up to 100km/h. Driving time from Hong Kong to Zhuhai will be reduced from four hours to about 30 minutes. A total of 400,000 tonnes of steel was used in the project, enough to construct 60 Eiffel Towers. The structure has been built to resist the impact of a magnitude-8 earthquake, super typhoon or 300,000-tonne cargo vessel. The bridge was originally scheduled to open in 2016 but construction of the Hong Kong section was delayed by a legal challenge over its environmental impact.
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