Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge – the longest sea bridge in the world
OBO Bettermann involved to a great extent with products
Project description
Eight years in construction, 55 kilometres long, 40,000 vehicles a day, 420,000 tonnes of steel, costs of around 14 billion euros and a connection between Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao – this is the Chinese mammoth project, which connects multiple bridges, tunnels and artificial islands in the delta of the Pearl River. In this way, mainland China is now closer to the megacities of Hong Kong and Macao.
The connection offered by the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge reduces the journey time from Hong Kong to mainland China from four and a half hours to around 30 minutes. The bridge is considered to be a symbol of the unity of China. By 2035, 60,000 cars and up to 250,000 passengers are intended to travel each day from Chinese Zhuhai to Macao or Hong Kong and vice versa.
General building information
OBO Bettermann system solutions were also installed in this megaproject: Products from the connection and fastening systems, transient and lightning protection systems as well as cable support systems units can be found in this extraordinary structure.
Why did the customer choose OBO products?
Due to the high and extreme requirements, the underwater tunnels contain the magic mesh cable tray in different versions and dimensions. It allows the routing of a high volume of cables. In addition, it is extremely robust and can be used flexibly. For this reason, the high-stability SKSM cable tray was used for the routing of heavy current cables in the fan room.
To protect a high number of outdoor electronic devices, the engineers made use of the main components isFang and isCon for the external lightning protection. They are distributed over the upper side of the bridge tower and on many outdoor information panels. These are just a few examples of the product range of OBO Bettermann that were used in this connecting construction project.
One fifteen kilometre-long section is now the longest steel bridge in the world. Besides that, an underwater tunnel, which is also part of the project and is 6.7 kilometres long, is not only the longest but, at around fifty metres under the surface of the water, the deepest.
On the western side, the engineers created an artificial island, located between Macao and Zhuhai. Since the bridge was opened, this has been the site of the toll booths and the border crossings for entry into the Macao Special Administrative Region and into China.
