Violent turmoil caused at bridge construction sites

It will take at least three months to resume construction of the 4-billion-yuan ($583 million) Honghe Bridge, according to the deputy general manager of the construction company, Liu Wei. The nearby Xianghai Bridge also will have difficulty being opened by 2020 as scheduled, due to storm damage.

Wei reported that production and accommodation facilities at four contract sections of the Honghe Bridge were severely damaged by Typhoon Hato, with the third section hit hardest on its windward side. Living quarters, office areas, and steel processing plants were all smashed with nearly 70 percent of the 2-km construction trestle damaged.

The 10-km Honghe Bridge is south of Zhuhai Avenue and will connect Hongwan of Nanping Town with the Jiangmen-Zhuhai Expressway Extension Line and Hezhou-Gaolan Port Expressway via the Hezhou South Interchange.

Xianghai Bridge construction site [Photo courtesy Zhuhai Daily]

The more than 20-km Xianghai Bridge is the other key east-west passage. As with Honghe Bridge it will reduce travel time between Zhuhai's East and West wings. The Xianghai project is estimated at 4.28 billion yuan ($642 million).

This year's strongest typhoon blew over project work offices, living quarters, and laboratory board rooms in the fourth section of the Xianghai project, the hardest hit.

Furthermore, construction trestles of a crucial section over the Modaomen Waterway were wrecked by ships driven into them by high winds.

Yu Dengrong, deputy manager of the bridge construction firm, said they will provide appropriate placements for office and construction workers and rebuild steel processing plants, mixing stations, and damaged trestles.