World's longest sea bridge draws Hong Kong closer to China

© Winson Wong

The world's longest sea bridge - an expensive, controversial project - has finally opened.

President Xi Jinping on Tuesday inaugurated the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai Bridge, a multi-billion dollar project authorities say will facilitate the integration and development of southern China, the country's most economically vibrant region.

But for critics in Hong Kong, the bridge is a sign of the Communist Party's growing influence in the city, where they say freedoms have dwindled due to Beijing's tightening grip.

Here are five things you need to know about the mega bridge.

1. It's an engineering wonder

The Y-shape bridge spans the mouth of the Pearl River in southern China. It is 1.4 times the length of the 24-mile Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, the longest bridge in the US that connects Metairie and Mandeville in Louisiana.

The 34-mile Chinese structure includes three cable-stayed bridges, an undersea tunnel and two artificial islands that connect the bridges with the tunnel.

Chinese state media say 420,000 metric tons of steel was used for the bridge. That's 60 times the weight of the Eiffel Tower.

The bridge will mainly be used by private buses and freight trucks after it opens for traffic on Wednesday. It will shorten the travel time between the financial center of Hong Kong and the gambling city of Macau as well as western Guangdong province from three hours to about an hour.

Drivers have to apply for special permits to travel between the three places, each with its own immigration and visa policy.

The Chinese government says the goal is to make the Pearl River Delta a "world-class bay area" that rivals the San Francisco Bay Area in economic power.

2. It draws Hong Kong closer to mainland China

The bridge is part of Beijing's efforts to integrate Hong Kong and Macau with the rest of China. Another major transport link, the high-speed train between Hong Kong and the mainland, opened in September.

But democracy supporters in Hong Kong say such projects are aimed at blurring the border between the former British colony, which has a separate legal system, and mainland China.

Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997, with the promise of free speech and a host of other civil liberties not available in the mainland.

Concerns of Beijing's creeping influence in the city have prompted massive protests in the past. And many are worried the bridge will further erode Hong Kong's autonomy.

3. It took nine years, and more than $7 billion to build

Construction of the mega bridge started in late 2009. At the time, officials expected it to open in 2016. The estimated cost was $5.5 billion.

But the construction took much longer, which led to increased costs and delays in the opening of the bridge.

The latest official estimate in December put the cost of the bridge alone at about $7 billion. The cost was shared by the governments of Hong Kong, Macau and China. Some of the extra spending had to be financed by bank loans.

When extras such as roads and flyovers are counted, Hong Kong alone has spent $15 billion on the project.

The budget overruns and delays also prompted strong criticism from Hongkongers. Critics have slammed it as a white elephant, arguing the economic benefits will not be worth the investment.

4. It cost ten lives

Ten workers died, and more than 600 were injured while constructing the bridge, according to the Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims, a Hong Kong non-governmental group.

One worker died in 2015 after being struck by heavy duty welding equipment. In March 2017, two workers drowned after a temporary platform they were working on collapsed and fell into the sea.

A number of construction companies working on the bridge have been taken to court and fined in cases related to the deaths and injuries.

5. It led to 19 arrests

The safety of the giant structure has also been questioned after workers were found to be faking test results in a corruption scandal.

In 2017, 19 government contractors in Hong Kong were charged with fabricating test results on the strength of concrete bricks used for the bridge.

One was jailed for eight months last year. In July, two other workers were sentenced to 32 months and 22 months respectively, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud. The other 16 are currently awaiting trial.

Safety concerns were raised again in April, when aerial photos showed interlocking concrete blocks placed around the edges of an artificial island appeared to have drifted away.

Government officials have dismissed the safety worries. The bridge's designers have said the structure is built to last 120 years, and can withstand strong winds and earthquakes.

Additional reporting by Kanis Leung.

This story originally appeared on Inkstone, a daily multimedia digest of China-focused news and features. Like what you see? Sign up for our newsletter, download our app, or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Copyright (c) 2018. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.