Two major artificial islands in the sea off south China's Guangdong Province have emerged as transportation hubs for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area city cluster in south China, with the opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link to traffic on Sunday.
With a total length of 24 kilometers, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link consists of one underwater tunnel, two bridges and two artificial islands, crossing several main waterways of the Lingdingyang Bay.
The western artificial island is located on waters of the Lingdingyang Bay. Covering an area of 137,000 square meters, equivalent to 19 football fields, the island connects the road from the bridge to the tunnel 40 meters under the sea, which is its main function.
In an interview with China Central Television, Wang Gang, an engineer on the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link project, said that construction of the western artificial island began in December 2016, the earliest for the entire project.
"The area where the western artificial island was built was originally a sea area. We used 57 steel drums fixed to the seabed to form an enclosed wall, then the initial shape of an island. After that, we filled the place with sand and then built the main structures on the island," he said.
Today, the western artificial island has become a multi-functional hub integrating bridge and tunnel conversion, management and maintenance, science education and tourism, firefighting and rescue, and traffic monitoring.
Meanwhile, the east artificial island is located near Shenzhen City's airport and port, connecting the city to the undersea tunnel. The project, which began construction in 2017, transformed wide shoals into a 35,000-square-meter island.
According to Liu Kun, manager of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link Project, the east artificial island serves as Shenzhen City's portal to the Link, contributing to reducing travel time between cities in the region.
"After opening to traffic, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link project's east artificial island will connect Huizhou and Shenzhen Longgang in the east, the cities of Zhongshan and Zhuhai in the west, the cities of Guangzhou and Dongguan in the north, and the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone and Hong Kong in the south. It brings into full play its great role as a core transportation hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, and contributes to the formation of a one-hour living circle covering major cities in the area," he said.
Two main artificial islands become hubs on Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link
