On June 30, the world-renowned super project, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor, was officially opened for trial operation. This is the world's first cross-sea cluster project integrating "bridges, islands, tunnels and underwater interconnection", with a total length of about 24 kilometers, and the driving time from Shenzhen to Zhongshan will be shortened from about 2 hours to 30 minutes.
From the past "sighing and slingding" to today's "cross-lingding", this is a witness of the times.
It took 141 days to realize the one-time and accurate installation of 80,000 tons of immersed pipes on the seabed of the West Artificial Island...... Facing the wind and stepping on the huge waves, tens of thousands of builders have struggled in the Pearl River Estuary for seven consecutive years.
Frequent typhoons, high salt and humidity environments, and complex seabed conditions...... This is one of the most difficult cross-sea cluster projects in the world.
How strong is this sea miracle? Data best reflects –
The world's largest span all-offshore steel box girder suspension bridge: the main span of the Shenzhong Bridge is 1,666 meters, and the total span is 2,826 meters with the side spans on both sides;
The world's highest navigable clear space bridge in the sea: the main tower of the Shenzhong Bridge is 270 meters high, the bridge deck is as high as 91 meters from the sea level, and the navigable clearance of ships is 76.5 meters, which can meet the navigation needs of 300,000 tons of bulk carriers and 30,000 TEU container ships in the future;
The world's longest two-way eight-lane submarine immersed tunnel: the Shenzhong Passage Submarine Tunnel, a two-way eight-lane tunnel with a length of about 6.8 kilometers, of which the immersed section of the submarine tunnel is 5,035 meters long, which is connected by 32 pipe sections weighing 8 tons and a final joint;
The world's first underwater highway hub interchange - airport interchange: the land area of the east artificial island of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor is 343,800 square meters, equivalent to 48 international standard football fields, and the tunnel project on the island includes a 480-meter-long weir section tunnel, an 855-meter-long main line tunnel on the island, and 4 ramp tunnels to realize traffic transfer......
This cross-sea super project once again polishes the business card of China's infrastructure:
It has developed ultra-high-strength main cable steel wire strands, and innovated the floating installation process of ultra-large-scale immersed pipe sections in the open sea...... Since the construction of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor, it has obtained more than 200 invention patents and dozens of industry association awards.
In April, the Shenzhong Bridge won the "Nobel Prize" in the bridge industry and the "George Richardson Award" awarded by the International Bridge Conference.
"This is another test of China's infrastructure technology, and this is a new window to show the world China's infrastructure strength." Xu Guoping, head of the design of the island tunnel of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Channel of the China Communications Highway Planning and Design Institute, said.
As a key part of the transportation network around the Pearl River Estuary, the significance behind the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor is not only to shorten the driving time, but also represents an important step forward in the connectivity of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, stimulating more development vitality.
As a natural barrier, the Pearl River Estuary once gave cities on both sides of the strait different development characteristics.
On the east coast, the advanced manufacturing industry has strong strength, strong scientific and technological innovation capabilities, and a relatively complete industrial chain and supply chain system, but it is facing the problems of limited development space and rising factor costs.
In the west coast, there is a vast space for usable and developable industries, and the cost of land use and rent is relatively low, but there is an urgent need for industrial transformation and upgrading, and "blood transfusion and hematopoiesis".
The convenience brought by the opening of traffic has made new industrial cooperation models such as "Shenzhen headquarters + Zhongshan manufacturing" and "Shenzhen R&D + Zhongshan transformation" a reality.
"As the new 'traffic backbone' of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the key 'horizontal' of the 'A'-shaped transportation network framework, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor has shouldered the important mission of promoting better connection and integration between the east and west sides of the Pearl River Estuary since the design stage." Deng Xiaohua, chairman of Guangdong Provincial Communications Group, said.
The "east and west banks" will become "the two ends of the bridge", and the two sides of the Pearl River, which face each other across the sea, will hold hands at sea, which will help the Greater Bay Area move towards a better future.