Elements
S3 E11

Everything It Takes to Engineer the World’s Largest Sea Bridge

120 years. That’s how long engineers want the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge to last. Given the suspension cables, artificials islands, and even an underground tunnel, the HZMB just might.

By Seeker

Published on 2/1/2019 at 7:04 AM

When the HongKong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, or HZMB, was completed in January of 2018, it became the longest sea crossing bridge in the world. With a total length of 55 kilometers, the structure is impressive to behold, but the engineering behind it is even more incredible.

The goal of the bridge was to connect the major population center of Hong Kong on one side of the Pearl River Delta to Macau and Zhuhai on the other. Normally to go between the cities requires driving around a large bay, and a more direct path could take two hours off the trip. Making such a long bridge required careful planning from the HZMB’s designers. They had to build it to withstand the annual typhoon season, the occasional earthquake, and the ever-present sea. And their goal is to make it last for for 120 years. They also had to account for its location, cutting across five shipping navigation channels and the flight path of aircraft taking off and landing at Hong Kong International Airport. Finally, they had to consider the local marine life, like the Chinese white dolphin, and the impact the construction and presence of the bridge would have on the ecology of the region.

The first most obvious challenge when building over water is the fact that there’s no land to build on. That’s kind of the whole point of the bridge, so you need to start with a stable base. However the first solid ground you run into under water isn’t usually ideal either. In this case, there were weak marine deposits that don’t make for a solid foundation. To overcome this, builders drove long poles called piles down through the sediment. Piles used in the Hong Kong link road portion of the bridge could be as wide as 2.8 meters, and in a few cases were over 100 meters long to reach a stable foundation.

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Scientists Are Close To Eliminating Pain, Here’s How

How we might experience the unpleasantness of pain might come down to these 150 neurons in mouse brains.

Could These Numbers Unravel New Dimensions in Space?
Elements
S3 E18

Could These Numbers Unravel New Dimensions in Space?

These multidimensional number systems are helping us explain the laws of nature. Here’s how.

Scientists Trapped Electrons In a Quantum Fractal (And It's Wild!)
Elements
S3 E17

Scientists Trapped Electrons In a Quantum Fractal (And It's Wild!)

Fractals aren’t just crazy cool mathematically infinite shapes. They might just have the capacity to revolutionize modern electronics as we know it.

Why Twisted Light Holds the Key to Radically Faster Internet
Elements
S3 E15

Why Twisted Light Holds the Key to Radically Faster Internet

With this new nanophotonic device we just might have unlocked how to harness the data transfer potential of “twisted light”.

Will This New Male Birth Control Gel Actually Work?
Elements
S3 E14

Will This New Male Birth Control Gel Actually Work?

Right now, clinical trials are underway for a new form of birth control for men. What is it, and how does it work?

This Nuclear Robot Could Tunnel for Alien Life on Europa
Elements
S3 E13

This Nuclear Robot Could Tunnel for Alien Life on Europa

This nuclear-powered tunneling robot could one day find life on Europa. Here’s how it works.

How Did Roboticists Get This Ancient Fossil To Walk?
Elements
S3 E12

How Did Roboticists Get This Ancient Fossil To Walk?

Advanced computer tomography scans are changing the way paleontologists are studying ancient life and “OroBOT” may be just the beginning.

We May Have Just Unlocked a Secret to How Life on Earth Began
Elements
S3 E16

We May Have Just Unlocked a Secret to How Life on Earth Began

Scientists have been trying to piece together the chemical recipe for how the building blocks of life originated. Now, they may have found it.

Everything It Takes to Engineer the World’s Largest Sea Bridge
Elements
S3 E11

Everything It Takes to Engineer the World’s Largest Sea Bridge

120 years. That’s how long engineers want the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge to last. Given the suspension cables, artificials islands, and even an underground tunnel, the HZMB just might.

What Really Happens to Your Blood After You Donate?
Elements
S3 E10

What Really Happens to Your Blood After You Donate?

Plasma gathered from your blood can be exported across the globe, but what exactly is it, and why is it in demand?

There’s a Subterranean Biosphere Hiding in the Earth’s Crust and It’s MASSIVE
Elements
S3 E9

There’s a Subterranean Biosphere Hiding in the Earth’s Crust and It’s MASSIVE

This mysterious new ecosystem is being called the ‘subterranean galapagos’ and it’s almost twice the size of earth’s oceans. We’ve never seen anything like it.

The Crazy Plan to Deliver the First Baby in Space
Elements
S3 E8

The Crazy Plan to Deliver the First Baby in Space

A startup has announced plans to send a pregnant woman to space to give birth. Will this be the first baby born in space?

These Metamaterials Go Beyond the Properties of Nature
Elements
S3 E7

These Metamaterials Go Beyond the Properties of Nature

These materials have been engineered to interact with radiation in unnatural ways. Here’s how they’re making microscopic optical lenses, chip-sized synchrotrons, and so much more.

Can Hawking’s Black Hole Paradox Be Solved With Fuzzballs?
Elements
S3 E6

Can Hawking’s Black Hole Paradox Be Solved With Fuzzballs?

Our current ideas about black holes present some interesting paradoxes. Could this unusual black hole model solve them?

How Ferroelectricity Could Change the Way We Store Data
Elements
S3 E5

How Ferroelectricity Could Change the Way We Store Data

This hidden ferroelectric “particle” has evaded scientists for years, until recent studies have now discovered it and hacking into their potential.

How a Government Shutdown Screws Up Scientific Research
Elements
S3 E4

How a Government Shutdown Screws Up Scientific Research

Thousands of scientists were sent home on temporary non-paid leave, what does it mean for the research they had to leave behind?

A New Genetic Alphabet Is Creating Things Nature Has Never Seen
Elements
S3 E3

A New Genetic Alphabet Is Creating Things Nature Has Never Seen

If you thought DNA was made of just A, T, G and C-- think again. Scientists have been expanding these options, and the resulting organisms could create the impossible.

Can We Power the World With a Single Energy Grid?
Elements
S3 E2

Can We Power the World With a Single Energy Grid?

China is building a 1.1 million volt power line that will carry power 3,200km. Could this be the beginning of a united global energy grid?

Why Did China Send a Probe to the Far Side of the Moon?
Elements
S3 E1

Why Did China Send a Probe to the Far Side of the Moon?

For the first time in history, there is a rover on the far side of the moon and the Chang’e 4 mission is just beginning to explore this hidden side.