Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge

Background:

Geo-politics and occupying new territory was always seen in history. Here also Hong Kong and Macau were occupied by British and Portuguese. The treaty was later signed with Main Land China, and they later agreed on One Country Two System. As the date of expire for the treaty comes near, Main Land wants to connect and influence the region under Chinese culture. Various attempts are made and one of the major development is this Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

Geography:

All three regions are majorly connected with Mainland China but to connect the three together was attempted here. Hong Kong is seen as an island country as three sides are surrounded by sea and the north which is connected to Mainland China there is a river, making it an artificial island. Hong Kong and Macau are separated by sea, thus this connection becomes more important.

Site & Construction:

As the two places are separated by sea, the area is also used for cargo, shipments, and passenger ship movements. Hence the Bridge plan had two options, one - bridge span height to be higher, so that ships can go under it, second - the path passing undersea.

The planners came with an idea that had a combination of both, the half path is above the sea and the other half is undersea, disappearing as the earth swallows it.

This bridge truly composed of every Civil Engineering study in Bridge Construction such as Viaduct, Normal Bridge, Suspension Bridge, Tunnel Passage, Reclamation, and much more making it the 

World's Longest Sea-Crossing Bridge

The total length is about 54 km where the main part is in the side of Macau which is 29.6 km and the Hong Kong side is 9.4 km long and a tunnel again. The construction started in 2009 from the Chinese side and in 2011 Hong Kong side started the construction. As for a 6 lane highway, the viaduct has 660 marine bored pier which was a new technique formed for this project. Also, the strengthening cables go through the deck to the pier neck and all the way down to the base of the pier for more strength. the precast segments were commonly used in Hong Kong for this superstructure. The prestressed method in the formation of the monolithic deck column connection and pier work which we talked here above. The special design and construction for the concrete shells in the pile cap works are also novel ideas introduced to the construction industry.

Design Flaw?

But still, there was some concern with the other parts of the design such as the artificial island. During high tide and storms, there is a serious flaw seen in the design of this superstructure near the artificial island, but the engineers said that it was working as intended. But the reality was that the breakwater structure was washed away by the waves.