The Civil Engineering Contractor February 2018 | Page 12

THIS IS CIVIL ENGINEERING
The incredible scope of the mega-infrastructure
Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge project includes
a 16-mile bridge-to-tunnel structure, with the tunnel
portion spanning about six kilometres. Two artificial
islands for the tunnel landings helped engineers
create both the tunnel section and anchor the
bridge portions, which will connect Hong Kong and
the mainland via a mega-crossing. Construction
on the 55km-long sea-bridge began in December
2009. However, owing to legal challenges over the
environmental impact of the bridge, work on the
Hong Kong side did not begin until two years later.
Completion was put back a year until the end of 2017.
Time to build: seven years. Cost to build: USD10.6-
billion.
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10 - CEC February 2018