China stretches the imagination with world's longest sea bridge

[ShatteredWings]

China (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/china) today announced it had begun construction of the world's longest sea bridge – barely 18 months after opening the current record-holder.
The Y-shaped link between Hong Kong, Macau and China will be around 50km (31 miles) long in total, 35km of which will span the sea, said the state news agency Xinhua. Due to be completed by 2015, the 73bn yuan (£6.75bn) cost of the bridge will be shared by the authorities in the three territories.



This article's long, so link http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/15/worlds-longest-sea-bridge

[Kahn]

Honestly I think this is a bad idea. I am not for sure but doesn't Asia (Japan being a part of Asia) have many earthquakes? What if this massive structure is stuck between an earthquake? They must reinforce it.

[ShatteredWings]

But much of the structure will be prefabricated offsite, so, for example, the concrete deck sections can be produced at the same time as the foundations are laid. The tunnel will be made of precast sections – each 100 metres long.


"It is designed with a service life of 120 years. It can withstand the impact of a strong wind with a speed of 51 meters a second, or equal to a maximum Beaufort scale 16 (184 to 201kmph)," said Zhu Yongling, an official in charge of the project construction. "It can also resist the impact of a magnitude-8 earthquake and a 300,000-tonne vessel."


I only quoted a partial article

[Kahn]

My bad.