HK-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge developments
 

planning for China's 3rd(?) ~30km bridge is moving along...

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...t_11155390.htm

This one should go ahead shortly. They're speeding up the construction timeline as a financial crisis stimulus project. Soon we won't need to ferry to Macau anymore!

renderings:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...12652385_1.htm

entrance at hk end
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...3123157148.jpg http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...4372804449.jpg

tollgate & cable-stayed section
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...5781829650.jpg http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...7182140651.jpg

the macao end & map
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...6859777252.jpg http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...0153116853.jpg

Amazing.

Excellent idea. I wonder why it doesn't also have a rail link?

Looks great, but it is unusual that there is no rail link.

I was under the impression that China did not want to encourage additional auto use.

Looks like the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel on steroids. Amazing.

This is another political project. There is no need for this bridge.

Ferry services across the PRD are already fast and efficient. It may save 30 minutes off the journey time for someone from HK going to Macau to make bets, but is it worth 21 billion yuan to do so?

They say the bridge will promote the development of Zhuhai and western Guangdong, since manufacturers there will be able to truck their goods to HK and use HK's extensive port facilities to export their goods. But wouldn't it be more efficient to build ports in the region where they could export goods directly?

There already are plans to build a high speed rail line from HK to Guangzhou, and Guangzhou to Zhuhai is already under construction. So before the bridge is completed, it will already be possible to take a high speed train from Hong Kong to Zhuhai and Macau.

The largest beneficiaries of the bridge will be those who are running a real estate Madoff Scheme in the region.

sure.

Where did you get that impression?

Presumably this will also require one of those RHD-LHD / LHD-RHD lane switchover configurations?

I see a number of these big bridge projects often have a tunnel segment. Is it so that bridges don't block ship traffic? If that's the case, what's the point of the cable spans?

i'm guessing that's what the cable-stayed sections are for, like the donghai bridge going out to the yangshan port near shanghai

I can't speak for this bridge, but I know they built the tunnel for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge at the insistence of the US Navy. Otherwise, in theory, someone could've blocked the Atlantic fleet in or out of its main port just by knocking down a small part of the bridge (the part build big enough to accommodate an aircraft carrier).

Most of the OverSea Bridges have a tunnel section so that Large Container Ships can cross over. Also in case bridge section falls, it does not completely block the waterway. For examples: Chesapeake Bay Bridge in the USA, Oresund Bridge Tunnel from Denmark to Sweden, Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line in Japan, Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel in USA, Busan–Geoje Fixed Link in Korea, the list goes on.....

No.

The ferry from HK is very uncomfortable, because it goes over the ocean, many people get sick and start throwing up overboard. Also during inclement weather, the ferries have to stop running, making it unreliable. Also, the bridge allows a continuous flow of traffic vs ferries only runs intermittently. By your logic, people in NY can just take ferris from Brooklyn to Manhattan, they wouldn't need any bridges, and that is crazy talk.

The high speed rail you mentioned goes from HK all the way NORTH to Guangzhou then all the way SOUTH to Zhuhai, do you even have any geographical sense? That's hundreds of miles longer and many more hours longer than a direct link from HK to Macau. It's a waste of time and energy.

Not everything is about politics. It is a fact that this bridge improves transportation. You should feel lucky that your government is using money to improve traffic and not use money to drop bombs on another country.

Why architect of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge’s passenger clearance building looked to nature for inspiration
Aedas boss Keith Griffiths wanted to create a unique structure that represented Hong Kong and left visitors feeling at ease
October 29, 2018
South China Morning Post Excerpt

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong...7/IMG_9535.jpg

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http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong...7/IMG_9542.jpg

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When visitors marvel at the wavelike architecture of Hong Kong’s passenger clearance building for the world’s longest sea crossing, they might feel a sense of intimacy and connectivity with nature.

That was because the building was created to represent the city and reduce stress for users of the newly opened Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the designer said.

In an interview with the Post, Keith Griffiths, chairman and global design principal of international architecture firm Aedas, said the two-storey building, sited on a 150-hectare artificial island, would serve as an iconic “front door” to amaze passengers.

“Our primary considerations … were to create a building that was uniquely of and for Hong Kong,” said the Briton, a resident of the city for 35 years.

“How do you create a building not seen anywhere else in the world except Hong Kong?

“The challenge of this building was to create a beautiful piece of well-made architecture that would be a gateway for Hong Kong to be proud of.”

In a joint venture, British firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Aedas designed the building with a total floor area of more than 90,000 square meters, the largest of the boundary crossing facilities at the bridge’s Hong Kong Port.

To also highlight the facility’s function as a crossing point for traffic from the three cities, Griffiths said the team drew inspiration from the sea for the roof’s wavy design.

“The only theme of this building is about Hong Kong, which is very deep-rooted in nature, as it is surrounded by sea and forests amid country parks,” he said.

The undulating roof also symbolised the movement of people.

“The roof waves make it feel like you are coming in with the waves, like you’re surfing … It also signifies the flow of people in waves like water,” he said.

The roof is supported by treelike structural columns to give passengers the impression they are standing beneath a forest canopy.

More : https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...dges-passenger

Food truck boss blasts ‘idiotic’ plan to put vendors on Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge as government tries to ease pressure on border town
Commerce minister floats idea of giving visitors food and drink options on artificial island new border crossing on bridge
But head of local federation hits back and says idea that people would benefit from move is wrong
November 21, 2018
South China Morning Post Excerpt

A government proposal to allow food trucks to operate on the new bridge linking Hong Kong with mainland China has been dismissed as ‘idiotic’ by an industry boss.

On Wednesday, commerce minister Edward Yau Tang-wah said the government was exploring the possibility of allowing vendors to operate near the entry point to the city on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, and at Sunny Bay, to ease congestion in the nearby town of Tung Chung.

But, Gordon Lam Sui-wa, the chairman of the Hong Kong Food Truck Federation, said it was wrong to believe operators would benefit from the proposals, and he would not be interested in setting up at either location.

au said pop-up stores and stalls would also be set up at the border clearance facility, so travellers could buy souvenirs, and said the first booth could be available in the next week.

The plan is part of the government’s efforts to tackle overcrowding in Tung Chung, which has seen an influx of tens of thousands of tourists, mainly from the mainland, since the bridge opened last month.

Tour groups arriving by public bus have poured into the area on Lantau Island, angering local residents, prompting protests over the disruption caused.

Yau revealed at the Legislative Council that the number of registered tour groups visiting Hong Kong via the bridge had jumped from about 70 in the first week, to more than 700 in the past week.

Based on the experience gained from the past few weekends, around one-fifth of inbound visitors had not taken local public transport to visit other districts in the city, he said.

“This indicates that the main goal of many of the tourists was to experience the bridge. They might not be keen to enter Hong Kong,” he said.

Yau said Hong Kong government and mainland authorities were looking into the idea of opening the bridge’s artificial island in the east, which is part of the bridge structure, so tourists could return to Zhuhai or Macau from the island directly without entering the city.

More : https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...an-put-vendors

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4890/...b6f26213_h.jpgVR4910 by Bus Roundel Hong Kong - Fb me!, on Flickr