(Photo/Xinhua)

The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge, a massive Chinese infrastructure project within a one-hour radius of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, is under intense construction in the Lingding Cannel, southern China’s Guangdong province.

With total investment of 44.69 billion yuan ($6.69 billion), the bridge is expected to come into operation in 2024. Upon completion, the bridge will become the world’s largest and widest two-way eight-lane tunnel, the Science and Technology Daily reported.

Measuring 6.8 km in length, the tunnel is designed for a speed of 100 km/h and will have a service life of 100 years. The project includes on- and under-water construction of a bridge, artificial islands, and tunnels, bringing new challenges to the construction team and generating technical reference and experience for the world, according to Global Times.

Similar to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge will be connected by artificial islands in a west to east direction, said Yang Run, a deputy chief engineer at a subsidiary of China Communications Construction.

Yang also said that the construction team has completed the island’s backfilling, which consists of 57 steel cylinders with a diameter of 28 meters, covering an area equivalent to 19 soccer fields.

At 24 km in length, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge links eastern and western cities in the Pearl River Delta, shortening travel time between Zhongshan to Shenzhen to 30 minutes from two hours, which will improve traffic junctions in peak hours.

Besides, it is also of economic significance. Upon its completion, it will become an important channel connecting the east and west of the region and promote integration of cities in the Greater Bay Area. In particular, cross-boundary cooperation between the mainland and the two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao will be strengthened, China Daily reported.