SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
China's president has opened the World's longest sea bridge. The giant infrastructure is 55km total, including 3 suspension bridges, a causeway, a 6.7km undersea tunnel between two artificial islands, and another 1km tunnel, all designed at great cost to resist the local typhoons and earthquakes. It links Macau and ZhuHai (Guangdong province) on one side of the Pearl River, to Hong-Kong new airport on the other.
President Xi Jinping opened the long-delayed and over-budget Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge on Tuesday, billed as a major step forward in China's plan to turn the Pearl River Delta into a technology hub to rival Silicon Valley.
But critics worry the 55km-long bridge connecting the mainland city of Zhuhai with the semi-autonomous territories of Hong Kong and Macau is as much about politics as it is business.
Hong-Kong independentists see the $2.2B investment as another sign of progressive assimilation into the mainland, with the 45 minute link replacing the 4-hour ferry commute.
China is stepping up initiatives to increase trade across the region and at home - the opening of the mega-bridge comes a month after a new high-speed rail link started carrying passengers from Hong Kong to the mainland.
Perhaps tellingly, cars will drive on the right on the 6-lane bridge, as in China, and switch to the left when entering Macau or HK.
(Score: 5, Funny) by beckett on Wednesday October 24 2018, @11:48PM (8 children)
Here is what was actually delivered. [hongkongfp.com]
The construction at least is equal parts "progressive" as it is "assimilation"
(Score: 3, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday October 25 2018, @12:48AM (2 children)
They left out the Wind Turbines -- smart! And, unfortunately, made it look a lot less like Vagina. Still looks like Vagina. But, not as much!
(Score: 2) by arslan on Thursday October 25 2018, @06:04AM (1 child)
Actually, the real one looks more like a tampon now.. but yea the rendering does look like a shaved beaver.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday October 25 2018, @04:19PM
How else do you guide people into a tunnel, and make sure most miss the building at the end ?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 25 2018, @01:21AM
That tunnel entrance looks like it's just waiting to suck in all the rain water and storm surge from a typhoon (hurricane). I wonder, do they have storm doors to close off the tunnel entrance?
Also, can't really tell from the pictures, how much free board have they left to deal with ocean rise?
(Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Thursday October 25 2018, @01:49AM (1 child)
What is on the outside and looks vaguely like an unraveling linen weave? Are those pylons?
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday October 25 2018, @03:14PM
I think they are combination pylon / breakwaters, to prevent erosion.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 25 2018, @02:32AM
Not s bridge. It is bridge- tunnel causeway like the 35mi one at Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel. Or the 75 mile cone connecting Florida to key west (no tunnels but touching islands). The big thing here is the typhoons
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday October 25 2018, @07:31AM
Chrome and glass are expensive, after all.
Looks as though everything shrank a bit, and the island grew..
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex