China inaugurated a sea-crossing bridge, setting 10 world records

The super project of a bridge system combined with a sea-crossing tunnel located in Guangdong province connecting Shenzhen - Zhongshan held a series of world records when inaugurated.

The Shenzhen - Zhongshan project is 24 km long, but this is not a long continuous bridge but consists of an underwater tunnel between two artificial islands and a bridge connecting each island to the city on the same side.

The 8-lane route has a maximum speed of 100 km/h, helping to shorten driving time from 2 hours to 30 minutes.

1. After 7 years of construction, the project opened to traffic and set 10 world records including:
2. Highest bridge deck (91 m)
3. Highest clearance for sea bridges.
4. Largest offshore suspension bridge anchorage (344,000 m3 of concrete)
5. Highest wind resistance test speed for suspension bridge (83.7 m/s).
6. Largest steel bridge deck paved with hot-mix epoxy asphalt (378,800 m2)
7. The longest 8-lane two-way submerged tube tunnel.
8. The largest underwater concrete-steel-shell submerged tube tunnel (55.6 m).
9. Largest casting volume for steel-shell submerged pipeline using self-compacting concrete (29,000 m3/pipe section)
10. The widest foldable M-shaped waterstop used in the final joint of a submerged pipe tunnel (3 m).
11. .

The tunnel section is safely equipped with a new fire extinguishing system. To ensure everything runs smoothly, 14 robots will regularly patrol the tunnel, monitor pipes and cables, and even keep an eye out for car accidents. These robots can guide traffic through built-in speakers, record scenes and transmit to a remote control center when an accident occurs.

The lights along the tunnel wall also use a situational color division system so that road users can understand that the lights are green when everything is okay, but in an emergency, they turn red. The light system can also change from yellow to green along the length of the tunnel to guide people in the right direction when needing to evacuate.

The Shenzhen - Zhongshan project connects with the Hong Kong - Zhuhai - Macau Bridge, the world's longest sea-crossing bridge, 31 km away, helping people travel around the areas of Hong Kong, Macao and 9 cities located in Guangdong. East is easier.

Isabella Humphrey

Update 03 July 2024