Overview
Have you ever given thought to where the world’s longest sea crossing bridge is, with several famous bridges introduced in the past weeks? Not in USA, nor UK. It is in China!
It is the Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macau Bridge (HZMB) that we will bring up with you this week! The bridge is a mega project worth $20 billion with over 8 years to complete. HZMB is both designed and constructed by Chinese people, regarded as an engineering marvel by Western Media. Let us explore together the HZMB and the role stainless steel plays in it.
The Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macau Bridge
The Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macau Bridge (HZMB) is a hybrid structure that integrates bridge, island and tunnel to form a complete cross-sea channel. It links mainland China and Macau on the bridge’s western end to Hongkong on the eastern end. HZMB cuts an originally 3-hour trip between Zhuhai/Macau and Hongkong down to 40-50 minutes (Travel China Guide 2025).
The bridge features 6 lanes (dual 3-lane), 55 kilometers in length and 33.1-meters in width. Its road surface amounts to 700,000 square meters, equivalent to roughly 98 football fields. As magnificent as its size, there are about 420,000 tons of steel used for its construction, which consumption is sufficient to construct 60 Eiffel Towers. The bridge is designed to withstand up to M8 earthquakes and Level 12 typhoon with a lifespan of 120 years.
The Background Information
The vision of the HZMB can be traced back as early as 1980s. By the time, the transportation system between Chinese offshore cities Hongkong & Macao and the Mainland had been improved, but the link between Hongkong and the Pearl River Delta was still restricted by the Lingdingyang Bay geographically.
With the impact of the Asian Financial Crisis in 1990S, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government regarded it imperative to construct a sea-crossing channel connecting Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau so as to 1) capitalize on the advantages of Hong Kong and Macau; 2) look for new business growth opportunities.
It was not until 15 December 2009 when the construction was commenced. The bridge was officially opened for traffic on 24 October 2018, inaugurated by Chinese President Xi Jinping the day before. It was later incorporated into the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed in 2013 for its unique location advantages. As an important infrastructure located in the Greater Aera Bay, HZMB connects to the Silk Road from its eastern and western ends.
“HZMB is more than just a transportation project—it is a statement of China’s ambition, engineering expertise, and economic vision. With its record-breaking length, revolutionary hybrid design, and long-term economic impact, the HZMB stands as a true modern wonder.” as remarked by Jack Harrison from Engineerine.
The Design
HZMB is the world’s first cross-boundary land link infrastructure running a total length of 55KMs. It includes 3 sections as listed below.
- • To the west lies 13.43-km Zhuhai Link Road.
- • The Main Bridge is a dual 3-lane carriageway spanning 29.6kms, constituted with three cable-styled bridges, i.e., Qingzhou Channel Bridge, Jiuzhou Waterway Bridge & Jianghai Channel Bridge. Among them, Qingzhou Channel Bridge is the longest, say 458 meters.
- • To the east sits the Hongkong Bridge which construction was commenced in 2011. It is the 12-km Hong Kong Link Road, featuring a 6.7-km submerged tunnel that runs between two artificial islands.
The Hongkong Bridge section is designed with tunnels and artificial islands for three main considerations as below listed.
- - To minimize the disturbance of passing ships and keep clearance of the voyage for large vessels.
- - To confirm by Height Restriction Policy from ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) for flight safety during takeoff and landing.
- - To mitigate the risk of sediment accumulation which could happen with the dense bridge piers.
Chinese Aesthetic Culture Tradition
HZMB is an engineering feat that has been granted over 1,000 patents, pushing the boundary of engineering applications and techniques once and again (CGTN 2025). Meanwhile it conveys Chinese aesthetic culture tradition from its unique designs.
The Jiuzhou Waterway Bridge is also dubbed “the sail tower” for its shape designed like the sail of a sailboat. In Chinese Culture, it means smooth sailing ahead.
Jianghai Channel Bridge, also called “the dolphin tower” is inspired from the Chinese white dolphin. The design expresses the good will of humanity to coexist harmoniously with the marine eco-system.
Qingzhou Channel Bridge is also named Chinese Knot Tower, or One Heart Bridge. It is designed in the shape of traditional Chinese knot, meaning the one heart of the three linked cities to create a bright future for the Greater Aera Bay.
Stainless Steel Applied into HZMB
In June 2017 when the TV documentary “the Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macau Bridge” was being aired in CCTV, TISCO appeared proudly as the Chinese supplier to this megaproject.
There are around 8200 tons of duplex stainless steel rebars applied into the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, including the bridge pier foundations, pier bodies and tower bases, accounting for 87% of the total stainless steel rebars in Mainland bridge sections.
Duplex stainless steel 2205 was chosen for its excellent corrosion resistance to chloride, high strength at a relatively light weight, minimum maintenance and long service life. TISCO stood out as the supplier for they have embodied the production capacity, complete accreditation system, research and development advantages from people and assets, and decades of manufacturing experience in stainless steel filed.
With this case, TISCO further solidates their status in stainless steel industry and their reputation as Chinese top-tier stainless steel manufacturer spreads worldwide. This can be justified by the applications of TISCO stainless steel rebars in other international infrastructure cases such as China and Maldives Friendship Bridge & TKO-LT Tunnel in Hongkong.
Stainless Steel from CIVMATS China
At CIVMATS, we stock TISCO brand stainless steel coils which are readily processed into cut-to-length stainless steel sheets or smaller coils per your requirement. Meanwhile, we also produce stainless steel rebars. Grades, finish, and dimensions are customizable. Welcome for your stainless steel enquiry and purchasing. We aim for your best stainless steel choice.
