Both sides of the Shishan Mt Tunnel in the Huangmao Sea Channel project were connected on Aug 8 after 523 days of work, marking a meaningful milestone in the project's construction, which is expected to be completed in 2024.

The Huangmao Sea Channel stretches 31 km (19 miles) from Pingsha Town of Zhuhai's Jinwan District in the west to Doushan Town of Jiangmen's Taishan Town, connecting the Xinhui-Taishan and Western Coastal expressways. It has two tunnels, the Shishan Mt and Xiangshan Mt tunnels, while the Shishan Mt Tunnel in Taishan's Chixi Town is the first one for westbound motorists to enter Jiangmen.

Construction site of Shishan Mt Tunnel [Photo by Li Jianshu / Zhuhai Daily]

The left line has a length of 878 m (960 yd), while the right one is 885 m (968 yd) long. Eight miniature innovative technologies were applied in the tunnel's construction to ensure the appearance and quality of its concrete structure. 

To date, Xiangshan Mt Tunnel has now completed 2,170-m (2,373-yd) of its tunneling, accounting for 66 percent of its total length. 

Upon operation, the Huangmao Sea Channel will have interchanges with Hezhou-Gaolan Port Expressway and help form an east-west traffic artery together with the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Honghe Bridge, as well as the Hezhou-Gaolan Port Expressway.

A 100-km (62-mile) "Golden Inner Bay" will be built around the Pearl River Estuary to enhance connections between the city cluster on the west bank of the Pearl River Estuary and the cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, according to the report of the 13th CPC Guangdong Provincial Congress.

Zhuhai is now moving forward planning and construction of strategic passages, such as the link lines of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link and west extension of HZMB, as well as speeding up the construction of turning Zhuhai into a national comprehensive transportation hub.