• The world’s longest sea-bridge is now ready to open in China

The world’s longest cross-sea bridge is likely to be open for public soon. The bridge will connect mainland China with Hong Kong and Macau. The 55km-long bridge with six-lane has been built at the cost of almost USD20 billion. The sea-bridge, which took seven years to complete, has four artificial islands and four tunnels. The amount of the steel used in the construction of this bridge surpasses the quantity of steel required to make 60 Eiffel Towers of Paris. The construction experts from 14 different countries that include Japan, the US, the UK, Switzerland, Japan have contributed in building this bridge. It is expected that the travel time between mainland China and Hong Kong will reduce from 3 hours to only 30 minutes.

An estimated over 40,000 vehicles are likely to pass from this bridge every day that includes shuttle buses for masses at regular interval. While the bridge will serve as a crucial link between Hong Kong and the mainland, critics opine that this is a shrewd attempt towards removing barriers to the administration that exist between Hong Kong and China as two different systems, if not as countries. Many people think that Hong Kong’s autonomy as a separate system will get compromised over time.

On the other hand, China says that this sea-bridge will accelerate the economic cooperation among the people of two different regions; the fruits of which will be garnered by millions of people. Mainland China and Hong Kong may have two different systems of administration but after all, they are parts of the same country.

C. Lyu