China begins work on world's longest cross-sea bridge

**dirtydog** · 17-12-2009, 04:05 AM

China begins work on world's longest cross-sea bridge

Officials have said the Pearl River Delta's ecosystem will be protected

China has begun constructing a bridge to link southern Guangdong province, China's main manufacturing hub, with Hong Kong and Macau.

When completed by 2016, officials say it will be the world's "longest sea-crossing bridge" - spanning nearly 50km (30 miles).

One branch of the bridge will reach Zhuhai in Guangdong province.

The bridge will substantially cut driving times as China tries to make the region a global economic centre.

"Through a more convenient and fast transport network, Hong Kong's financial, tourism, trade and logistics and professional services can become better integrated with the Pearl River Delta and the surrounding areas," said Donald Tsang, Hong Kong's Chief Executive.

'Earthquake-proof'

Low-cost manufacturing is concentrated in Guangdong, but the bridge will make the less developed western parts close to the gaming centre of Macau more accessible.

The bridge will be able to withstand earthquakes and typhoons

The bridge will be a six-lane expressway that can handle earthquakes up to magnitude 8.0, strong typhoons and the impact of a 300,000 tonne vessel, said Zhu Yongling, one of the officials leading the project.

Thirty-five kilometres of it will be over water.

Driving times between Zhuhai and Macau to Hong Kong will be cut from three hours to about 30 minutes.

The estimated cost will be $10.7bn (£6.5bn), to be shared between Hong Kong, Macau and mainland authorities.

Environmentalists have objected that the bridge will affect the marine ecosystem of the Pearl River Delta and further endanger the rare white dolphin.

Mr Zhu said the environment and marine life would be protected during construction.

Hong Kong and Macau were returned to China as autonomous regions after being ruled as colonies by Britain and Portugal.

BBC News - China begins work on world's longest cross-sea bridge

**kingwilly** · 17-12-2009, 07:21 AM

wow, that'll be an engineering marvel !

**Agent_Smith** · 17-12-2009, 08:00 AM

Why not a Chunnel?

watterinja · 17-12-2009, 08:18 AM

From the makers of the world's biggest dams...

... that are cracking & breaking... Made in China.

**Cujo** · 17-12-2009, 08:29 AM

It's going to completely fuck up our little hidden jewel, Zhuhai.

**Perota** · 17-12-2009, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by Dug

It's going to completely fuck up our little hidden jewel, Zhuhai.

I drove through Zhuhai a couple of time, it's really nice. A couple of Hong Kong people I know chose to retire there but how's the life for westerners? Do you speak Chinese or can you survive with english alone ?

I heard the government restricted the kind of industry that can settle in Zhuhai, so it's much less polluted than the other side.

I guess all this work is to promote HK airport, but a point nobody understand is why making so many roads/brdges between HK and the Mainland if the the number of cars that can cross the border is still so restricted ?

Btw, the highway will land just next to where I live in HK, but I hope by then I can afford to live full time in Thailand. Or I will have moved to Shenzhen, either way ...

**Whiteshiva** · 17-12-2009, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by Agent_Smith

Why not a Chunnel?

Why not? - the bed rock in Hong Kong is mainly granite, which is faily good to tunnel in, and the distance is not too long (30-40 km). It would surely be far better for both the environment and for shipping.

**StrontiumDog** · 17-12-2009, 02:31 PM

Earthquakes...wouldn't be good to be in a tunnel if one struck, structure could fracture and in would come the sea. Not sure I'm fully confident a bridge like this could handle a couple of nearby big ones...? I guess they know what they are doing..

**Whiteshiva** · 17-12-2009, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Earthquakes...wouldn't be good to be in a tunnel if one struck, structure could fracture and in would come the sea. Not sure I'm fully confident a bridge like this could handle a couple of nearby big ones...? I guess they know what they are doing..

Hong Kong is not in an earthquake zone. On the other hand, tyhoons do hit the place from time to time, and I'd rather be driving in a tunnel than on a bridge when one does.

**StrontiumDog** · 17-12-2009, 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by Whiteshiva

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Earthquakes...wouldn't be good to be in a tunnel if one struck, structure could fracture and in would come the sea. Not sure I'm fully confident a bridge like this could handle a couple of nearby big ones...? I guess they know what they are doing..

Hong Kong is not in an earthquake zone. On the other hand, tyhoons do hit the place from time to time, and I'd rather be driving in a tunnel than on a bridge when one does.

Press Releases On Earthquakes

Updated as of 00:00 HKT 17/Dec/2009

The following are press releases issued by the Hong Kong Observatory on significant earthquakes during the last three months:

ISSUED DATE-TIME(HKT)
yyyy/mm/dd hh:mm
2009/12/10 06:10
2009/12/03 05:00
2009/11/30 04:37
2009/11/29 02:42
2009/11/28 14:38
2009/11/28 00:40
2009/11/24 21:31
2009/11/13 12:00
2009/11/11 22:25
2009/11/10 11:10
2009/11/09 19:21
2009/11/09 04:05
2009/11/05 20:25
2009/11/05 18:01
2009/11/05 06:48
2009/11/02 19:40
2009/10/30 15:40
2009/10/24 23:05
2009/10/23 20:10
2009/10/23 04:30
2009/10/19 08:25
2009/10/18 17:20
2009/10/16 18:20
2009/10/16 03:05
2009/10/15 03:09
2009/10/14 05:00
2009/10/13 19:58
2009/10/08 16:56
2009/10/08 06:50
2009/10/08 06:06
2009/10/04 19:26
2009/10/04 01:55
2009/10/01 10:30
2009/09/30 18:35
2009/09/30 02:25
2009/09/22 04:01
2009/09/21 17:23
2009/09/19 07:46
2009/09/18 20:30
2009/09/18 14:45

**StrontiumDog** · 17-12-2009, 09:55 PM

While it rarely has powerful earthquakes nearby, it does happen...They are obviously taking a calculated risk. Fair enough. But if a cat 7 quake hits...

I wonder what a category 5 typhoon might do to the bridge also...

Records of felt earth tremors in Hong Kong

Records of Felt Earth Tremors in Hong Kong

Since the Hong Kong Observatory recorded locally felt earth tremors in 1905, a total of 163 earth tremors of various intensities were registered. Since the Hong Kong Short-period Seismograph Network went into operation in 1979, 54 locally felt earth tremors were recorded, less than two per year on average.

No locally felt earth tremor had ever caused any casualty since records began. Most of these earth tremors were of intensity V(5) or below on the Modified Mercalli Scale. The strongest tremor was of intensity VI to VII (6 - 7) which occurred in 1918 and was caused by an earthquake near Shantou about 300 kilometres from Hong Kong. The 1918 tremor caused minor damage to a few buildings, which was the only event with damage on record. The latest earth tremor of higher intensity was of intensity V to VI (5 - 6) that occurred in 1994, and was caused by an earthquake over the southern part of Taiwan Strait.

Most of the earthquake epicentres that caused felt tremors in Hong Kong were situated outside the territory in areas near Taiwan, the northern part of the South China Sea, Heyuan and Yangjiang of Guangdong, the border between Guangdong and Fujian, Beibu Wan and the Philippines etc. Since 1979, there were altogether six locally felt tremors with epicentres located in Hong Kong, at Maipo (once in 1983) and over the sea east of Lantau Island (twice in 1982 and three times in 1995 respectively). All these tremors were of Intensity below V(5).

Chance of a significant earthquake in Hong Kong

Tectonic setting of Hong Kong

Most earthquakes of the world occur along the boundaries of crustal plates. Hong Kong lies within the Eurasian Plate and is located rather far away from the nearest boundary with the Pacific Plate on the Circum-Pacific Seismic Belt that runs through Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. The chance of a major local tremor is very small.

Earthquake risk in Hong Kong

Several scientific studies carried out recently showed that in Hong Kong, the return period for an Intensity V (5) tremor would be 15 to 20 years and that for an Intensity VII (7) tremor would be 350 to 400 years.

Trend of felt tremors in recent years

There is no evidence of an increase in the number of locally felt tremors in recent years. Since records began in 1979, there were altogether 54 felt tremors: 18 in the first ten years (1979 - 1988), 19 in the following ten years (1989 - 1998), and 17 in the most recent ten years (1999 - 2008).

**Cujo** · 18-12-2009, 08:15 AM

The biggest risk is obviously Typhoons. Particularly during construction.
I've been here 8 years and in that time, although there are Typhoons every year we have yet to have a direct hit by a powerful one.
They usually come in from the south east and head west towards Hainan or East wards Fujian before hitting here.

**keda** · 18-12-2009, 09:56 AM

A modern-day Wonder.

**Whiteshiva** · 18-12-2009, 09:59 AM

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

While it rarely has powerful earthquakes nearby, it does happen...They are obviously taking a calculated risk. Fair enough. But if a cat 7 quake hits...

Richter scale or the modified Mercallil scale you have quoted above? - there is a BIG difference. Well designed structures (including bridges and tunnels) will have little or no problem with a quake 7 on the latter.

The following are press releases issued by the Hong Kong Observatory on significant earthquakes during the last three months:

ISSUED DATE-TIME(HKT)
yyyy/mm/dd hh:mm
2009/12/10 06:10

I was actually there that day, and can't say I noticed anything. A quake obviously occured (according to the source), but what a geologist considers a significant quake will probably differ from what a structural engineer (or layman) would.

**Cujo** · 18-12-2009, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by keda

A modern-day Wonder.

Not really. it's not going to be single span or anything.

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