The construction of the underwater tunnel of China's new cross-sea link in south China's Guangdong Province was completed on Tuesday.
The tunnel, which spans around 6.8 kilometers, is part of a 24-km-long highway connecting Shenzhen and Zhongshan, situated on either side of the Pearl River Estuary.
The Shenzhen-Zhongshan link is a core transportation project in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It consists of one underwater tunnel, two bridges and two artificial islands, making it one of the most challenging cross-sea cluster projects in the world.
A view of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan link, south China's Guangdong Province, November 28, 2023. /CFP
The cross-sea link is scheduled to open to traffic in 2024. Once operational, the travel time between Shenzhen and Zhongshan will be reduced from the current two hours to approximately 20 minutes.
The Shenzhen-Zhongshan link, along with existing structures like the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, will form a network of cross-sea and cross-river passages in the Greater Bay Area, boosting connectivity of the city cluster, said Deng Xiaohua, head of Guangdong Provincial Communication Group Co., Ltd.
(With input from Xinhua)