The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge is a bridge that connects Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau. Several elements of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge were modified for Timothy North in 2018. It is the Chinese infrastructural project in Pearl River Delta.
History[]
Construction began on 15 December 2009 on the Chinese side and the last bridge elements were completed in stages between May 2016 and 6 February 2018. It was designed to last for 120 years and opened on 24 October 2018. Prior to COVID-19, several Temasek Polytechnic students have visited the bridge, together with Nanyang, Ngee Ann, Republic and Singapore Polytechnics under joint efforts.
Design[]
Zhuhai and Macau parts[]
On the west bank of the Pearl River, there are border crossing facilities for entry into the Macau Special Administrative Region and mainland China on an artificial island. The main bridge also begins here.
The 22.9 kilometer long actual main bridge has its end points on two artificial islands that were newly created as part of the project. The artificial island to the west lies off Macau and belongs to the Gongbei subdistrict of Zhuhai. The eastern artificial island was created in the middle of the Pearl River. Here the main bridge merges into a 6.7 kilometer long undersea tunnel, which emerges again on a third artificial island further east. The tunnel was composed of 100 m long sections. The main bridge and tunnel (together 29.7 kilometers) were built under the direction of the People's Republic of China. The main shipping routes are also located in this section. The main shipping canal is located in the area of the submarine tunnel. In addition, there are three additional passages under three major cable-stayed bridges (see Qingzhou Bridge near Fuzhou, Jianghai Bridge near Jiangmen and Jiuzhou Bridge near Qingdao).
The section that was built under the direction of Hong Kong begins to the east of the tunnel. This section, the Hong Kong Link Road, has a total length of 12 kilometers. It consists of a 9.4 kilometer long overwater viaduct that runs through the strait between Chek Lap Kok Island with Hong Kong International Airport and Lantau Island and ends at Guanjinshan Hill on Chek Lap Kok. From there, the 1 km long Guanjinshan Tunnel leads to the east side of the airport island, which is followed by a 1.6 km long section of ground level road to the border crossing facilities. For this final section of the road, 20 hectares of land were dug up on the east side of Chek Lap Kok.
| English | German |
|---|---|
| Hong Kong Link Road (HKLR) | Hongkong-Anbindung |
| Scenic Hill | Guanjinshan-Hügel |
| Scenic Hill Tunnel | Guanjinshan-Tunnel |
Hong Kong border crossing facilities[]
For the Hong Kong border crossing facilities (香港口岸建設, English Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities, HKBCF for short) and the connection to the urban highway Route 8, a 130 hectare artificial island was built east of the Chek Lap Kok airport island.
Transport[]
The HZMBus shuttle bus service (colloquially referred as the "golden buses") runs 24 hours a day with bus departures as frequent as every five minutes. The journey across the HZMB takes about 40 minutes.
The HZMB Hong Kong Port can be reached from Hong Kong by taxi or various buses including Cityflyer airport routes A10, A11, A12, A21, A22, A23, A25, A26 and A29, Long Win Bus airport routes A30, A31, A33X, A34, A36, A37, A41, A41P, A43 and A47X, NLB airport route A35, Green Minibus route 901, the B4 shuttle bus from Hong Kong International Airport, the B5 shuttle bus from Sunny Bay MTR station, or the B6 bus from Tung Chung. In addition, all overnight airport buses (NA-prefixed routes) which are operated by Cityflyer or Long Win stops or terminates at the Hong Kong Port.
The HZMB Zhuhai Port can be reached from Zhuhai by taxis or the L1 bus which uses historic tourist vehicles, or Line-12, 23, 25 or 3 buses.
The HZMB Macau Port can be reached from Macau by taxis or various buses including the 101X bus and the 102X bus from St Paul's and Taipa, or the HZMB Integrated Resort Connection bus from Taipa Ferry Terminal or the Exterior Ferry terminal, connecting with free casino shuttle buses.
Since the Hong Kong government imposes significant fees, taxes and administrative paperwork on private vehicle ownership and usage to deal with road congestion, driving a car on the HZMB would incur the same restrictions as current cross-border traffic. These include applying for separate driving licenses for both Hong Kong and mainland China, a Hong Kong Closed Road Permit for cross-boundary vehicles, and an Approval Notice from the Guangdong Public Security Bureau. Vehicle owners also need to ensure they have the appropriate insurance coverage for the regions they are travelling to.
Left and right hand traffic[]
Although the HZMB connects two left-hand traffic (LHT) areas, namely Hong Kong and Macau, the crossing itself is right-hand traffic (RHT), the same as in Zhuhai and other regions of mainland China (the bridge is technically in Zhuhai for most of its length). Thus, drivers from Hong Kong and Macau need to make use of crossing viaducts to switch to RHT upon entering the bridge, and back to LHT upon leaving the bridge when they are back to Hong Kong and Macau. Traffic between Zhuhai and the bridge requires no left-right conversion as they are both RHT.
Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link[]
The Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok Link (Chinese: 屯門至赤鱲角連接路, abbreviated as TM–CLKL) is a road project in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It comprises two elements: the "Northern Connection" and the "Southern Connection". The Northern Connection comprises an undersea tunnel crossing the Urmston Road, linking Tuen Mun to the "Boundary Crossing Facilities" (BCF), an artificial peninsula connected to Hong Kong International Airport. The Southern Connection, officially named Shun Long Road (順朗路), comprises viaducts linking the BCF to North Lantau Highway on Lantau Island.
The construction of the link has helped facilitate travel between the Northwest New Territories (Tuen Mun and Yuen Long Districts) and the Hong Kong International Airport and the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge (Hong Kong Port).
Though the project lies entirely within Hong Kong territory, its construction is associated with the new Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge (HZMB). The estimated cost of the design, site investigation, and construction of the TM–CLKL (including associated works, like land reclamation) is about HK$46.71 billion. The Southern Connection mainline opened on 24 October 2018 to tie in with HZMB's commissioning and the remaining Northern Connection to Tuen Mun opened on 27 December 2020.
The contract to construct the Northern Connection tunnel (No. HY/2012/08) was awarded to the Dragages-Bouygues Joint Venture on 26 July 2013. It commenced on 5 August 2013. The contract to construct the southern section was awarded to Gammon Construction in June 2013. The entire project opened to traffic on 27 December 2020.
History[]
The contract to construct the Northern Connection tunnel (No. HY/2012/08) was awarded to the Dragages-Bouygues Joint Venture on 26 July 2013. It commenced on 5 August 2013.[1] The contract to construct the southern section was awarded to Gammon Construction in June 2013.[2] The entire project opened to traffic on 27 December 2020. The dual sub-sea tunnels were bored up to 55 metres below sea level using the Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok TBM, the world's largest tunnel boring machine. Originally scheduled for opening in 2018, completion of the link had been delayed for two years. It opened to traffic on 27 December 2020.
In October 2020, the road was named as Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link, and the first batch is A33, A33X, E33, E33P and NA33 on 28 December 2020 together with A34. The second phase is A36, A37, N30 and NA37, with E36, E36A and NA36 on 20 June 2021.
Design[]
The tunnel portion is a two-lane dual carriageway approximately 5 kilometres long.[3]
Construction[]
The dual sub-sea tunnels were bored up to 55 metres below sea level using the Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok TBM, the world's largest tunnel boring machine.[4]
Originally scheduled for opening in 2018, completion of the link had been delayed for two years.[5][3][6] It opened to traffic on 27 December 2020.
Bus Routes[]
| Bus Route | From | To | Introduction | Discontinued |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A33 | Tuen Mun | Hong Kong International Airport | 3 August 2002 | |
| A33P | Chung Uk Tsuen | Hong Kong International Airport | 30 September 2015 | 28 December 2020 |
| A33X | Tuen Mun (Fu Tai) | Hong Kong International Airport | 9 January 2017 | |
| A34 | Hung Shui Kiu | Hong Kong International Airport | 28 December 2020 | |
| A36 | Kam Sheung Road | Hong Kong International Airport | 30 September 2015 | |
| A37 | Long Ping | Hong Kong International Airport | 25 July 2016 | |
| E33 | Tuen Mun (Central) | Hong Kong International Airport | 26 May 1998 | |
| E33P | Siu Hong | Hong Kong International Airport | 29 November 2008 | |
| E34A (renumbered to E37) | Tin Shui Wai | Hong Kong International Airport | 6 December 2014 | 20 June 2021 |
| E34B (renumbered to E36) | San Shui | Hong Kong International Airport | 6 December 2014 | 20 June 2021 |
| E34P (renumbered to E36A) | Tin Shui Wai | Yat Tung Estate | 6 December 2014 | 20 June 2021 |
| E34X (renumbered to E36A) | Tin Shui Wai | Yat Tung Estate | 19 September 2015 | 20 June 2021 |
| E36 | Yuen Long (Pat Heung Road) | Hong Kong International Airport | 20 June 2021 | |
| E36A | Sheung Tsuen | AsiaWorld-Expo | 21 June 2021 | |
| E37 | Tin Shui Wai | Hong Kong International Airport | 20 June 2021 | |
| N30 | Yuen Long | Hong Kong International Airport | 22 November 1998 | |
| NA33 | Tuen Mun (Fu Tai) | Hong Kong International Airport | 23 July 2015 | |
| NA34 (renumbered to NA36) | Tin Shui Wai | Hong Kong International Airport | 23 July 2015 | 20 June 2021 |
| NA36 | Kam Sheung Road | Hong Kong International Airport | 20 June 2021 | |
| NA37 | Tin Shui Wai | Hong Kong International Airport | 1 January 2019 |
References[]
External links[]
Template:Commons category
- Template:Official website
Template:HK tunnels