World's longest sea crossing: Hong Kong-Zhuhai bridge opens
Chinese
President Xi Jinping has officially opened the world's longest sea crossing
bridge, nine years after construction first began.
Including
its access roads, the bridge spans 55km (34 miles) and connects Hong Kong to
Macau and the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai.
The bridge
cost about $20bn (£15.3bn) and should have opened in 2016.
Construction
has been dogged by safety issues - at least 18 workers have died on the
project, officials say.
Mr Xi
attended the opening ceremony of the bridge, which took place in Zhuhai, along
with the leaders of Hong Kong and Macau.
Limited bus
services begin on Wednesday.
What's so
special about this bridge?
Designed to
withstand earthquakes and typhoons, it was built using 400,000 tonnes of steel,
enough to build 60 Eiffel Towers.
About 30km
of its total length crosses the sea of the Pearl River delta. To allow ships
through, a 6.7km section in the middle dips into an undersea tunnel that runs
between two artificial islands.
The
remaining sections are link roads, viaducts and land tunnels connecting Zhuhai
and Hong Kong to the main bridge.
Why has it
been built?
It is part
of China's plan to create a Greater Bay Area, including Hong Kong, Macau and
nine other cities in southern China.
The area is
currently home to 68 million people.
In the past,
travelling between Zhuhai and Hong Kong would take up to four hours - the new
bridge cuts this down to 30 minutes.
Can anyone
drive across the bridge?
No. Those
who want to cross the bridge must obtain special permits, allocated by a quota
system. And all vehicles will pay a toll.
The bridge
is not served by public transport, so private shuttle buses will ply the route.
There is no rail link.
Authorities
initially estimated that 9,200 vehicles would cross the bridge every day. They
later lowered their estimations after new transport networks were built in the
region.
What are
people saying about it?
There's been
a great deal of criticism of the project.
It has been
dubbed the "bridge of death" by some local media. At least nine
workers on the Hong Kong side have died and officials told BBC News Chinese
that nine had died on the mainland side, too.
Hundreds of
workers have also been injured during the construction.
It's fitted
with 'yawn cams'?
Special
cameras will be on the look-out for drivers on the bridge who show signs of
getting sleepy, among other checks - yawn
three times and the authorities will be alerted, local media report.
To help
counter potential terror attacks, there
will also be "48 high-definition surveillance cameras" mounted
at intervals along the bridge as well as anti-terror police patrols, the South
China Morning Post reports.
And drivers
will have to change which side of the road they are on at the crossing. People
drive on the left in Hong Kong and Macau but the bridge is Chinese territory
and special merger channels have been built to cope with this.
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