Zhuhai-Jiangmen crossing not just one, but 17 bridges

The complex Huangmao Bay project connecting southwest Zhuhai and southeast Jiangmen is to be constructed over the next four years and open by the end of 2024, according to a public notice posted by Guangdong Provincial Highway Construction Co.

Currently, preliminary work is being coordinated by the Huangmao Bridge Construction Administration. Construction will begin next year.

Spanning 29.93 km (18.6 miles), the Huangmao Sea Channel Bridge will support a dual six-lane highway with a designed speed of 100 kmph (62 mph). It will start from Zhuhai's Pingsha Community near where the Hezhou-Gaolan Port Expressway (west extension line of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge) and Zhuhai Avenue meet.

The sea bridge will cross the Huangmao to a point west of Fuliang Village in Chixi Town of Jiangmen's Taishan before heading for Yuewan Village and north of Zhu'natan Reservoir. Seventeen bridges totaling 24,430 m (15 miles) will be built, as will three passages, two tunnels through Shishan and Jishan Mts to west of Liyu Reservoir, four interchanges, and one service area.

Finally, it will merge into the Guangdong Western Coastal Expressway in Zhonghe Village of Doushan Town in Taishan, and lead to the Xintai-Taierzhuang Expressway in Shandong Province.

The project involves a land area of 1765.7 mu (291 acres) and sea area of 78.98 hectares (195 acres).

Once operational, the sea and channels crossing will shorten the distance from Jiangmen's Guanghai Bay to Macao by 18 km (11 miles), and to the Gaolan Economic Zone by 30 km (19 miles). The entire journey from city to city will take less than half an hour.

Meanwhile, a crisscrossed transport network is to take form connecting Hong Kong, Zhuhai, Jiangmen, and western Guangdong.