The Modaomen Waterway Auxiliary Channel crossing of the Honghe Bridge west section was connected end-to-end on June 16 with a precision of 5 mm on the 490-m (536-yd) span, reports Lin Quanfu, general manager of Honghe Bridge Co.

The auxiliary channel span forms part of Segment III along with the Main Tower Pier 9 of the Modaomen Waterway Main Channel Bridge, according to Yu Yong, chief engineer of the project department of Honghe Bridge Segment III.

Honghe Bridge over Hengqin's Mangzhou Wetland Park on east side of Modaomen Waterway with Zhuhai Free Trade Zone in background

Work has also been completed on Segment II of Piers 4 and 8, and IV of the South Hezhou interchange and approach bridge. The next connection to be made is between Pier 3 in Segment I and Pier 4 in Segment II, signifying the bridge is a step away from opening in time for the 13th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition (Airshow China) in November.

Costing 4 billion yuan ($565 million), the 9.65-km (6-mile) bridge project starts at the Hongwan Interchange in Nanping Town and accesses the link line of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. It runs westwards across the Hongwan and Modaomen waterways and leads to Jiangmen-Zhuhai and Hezhou-Gaolan Port expressways via the Hezhou South Interchange scheduled to open before Airshow China.

Upon completion, the dual six-lane structure will join the new Xianghai and Jinhai bridges as an additional pivotal connection between Zhuhai's East and West wings. Travel time between Hongwan Interchange and Zhuhai (Jinwan) Airport will be shortened to 20 minutes as the bridge is designed with a speed limit of 100 kmph (62 mph).

Construction in progress [Photos by Chen Xinnian / Zhujiang Evening Post]