On April 8, Guangdong Humen Bridge Co., Ltd. issued the Tender Announcement on the Feasibility Study of the Reconstruction and Expansion Project of Humen Bridge Section of Dongguan-Buddha Expressway on the official website of Guangzhou Public Resources Trading Center.

According to the bidding documents, the proposed route of the project starts from Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway Taiping Interconnecting, successively crossing the Taiping Waterway, Baihuashan Tunnel, Weiyuan Interconnecting, Humen Fortress Protection Area, Lion Ocean Waterway, Nansha Interchange, and then landing into the existing road, and finally Guangzhou-Macao Expressway Tanwei Interchange, the total length of the route is about 21.5km, of which the bridge length is about 19.4km. It is proposed to adopt the highway standard, and the design speed is 120 km/h.

As early as March 24 this year, the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission issued the "Guangdong Province 2024 Key construction project Plan" mentioned that the Humen Bridge and the highway connecting with the Humen Bridge will be expanded to two-way 10-12 lanes, which is expected to be completed around 2028, and the Humen Bridge renovation and expansion project is estimated to have a total investment of 10 billion yuan.

Many years of overload operation, many times maintenance

Humen Bridge, with a total length of 15.78 kilometers, is the first bridge across the Pearl River Estuary and is also known as "the first span in China". The bridge was built in 1992 and opened to traffic in 1997. After opening to traffic, the Humen Bridge became a key passage connecting the east and west sides of the Pearl River Estuary. Driving from Dongguan, Shenzhen and other eastern Guangdong areas to Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and western Guangdong no longer requires detour, and the driving distance is shortened by more than 120 kilometers, which has changed the situation of "one river separated by the rest of the world" in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and greatly promoted the cultural and economic construction and exchange of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.

Since the opening of this two-way 6-lane cross-sea bridge, it has borne almost all the traffic flow of the entire east-west exchange in the Pearl River Delta. As traffic continues to grow, Humen Bridge has been overwhelmed.

It is reported that the design vehicle flow of Humen Bridge is 80,000 standard vehicles per day, but the actual maximum daily vehicle flow is nearly 200,000 vehicles, far exceeding the design standard. As of the 25th anniversary of the opening of Humen Bridge, the cumulative traffic volume has exceeded 500 million vehicles, even exceeding the national motor vehicle population in 2023.

Due to long-term overload operation, the Humen Bridge has been repeatedly repaired and even restricted to some vehicles. According to several media reports from Guangzhou Daily and the Paper, from November 10, 2008 to January 8, 2009, the Humen Bridge was under maintenance, during which only one lane was available for traffic. Later, from October 29 to December 23, 2012, the overtaking lane of K37+618 to K38+500 in the westbound direction of Humen Bridge (Dongguan to Guangzhou) was updated, because the road surface of the westbound direction of Humen Bridge was damaged due to overloading vehicles. Later, from November 20 to December 20, 2015, the Humen Bridge was under construction and maintenance in a single direction from west to east.

In August 2019, Humen Bridge Company conducted another half month of maintenance and released a news that the bridge section was in overload operation for a long time, resulting in different degrees of disease in six bridge sections, including Suspension Bridge, East Approach Bridge of Auxiliary Channel Bridge, Taiping Bridge, Guangji Bridge No. 2, Da Chung Bridge and Shenwan Bridge. After comprehensive detection and evaluation by relevant traffic testing institutions, Humen Bridge announced restrictions on the passage of trucks and passenger cars with more than 40 seats on some sections.

In March 2020, Humen Bridge Company released news that according to the needs of Humen Bridge bridge safety inspection and maintenance work, in order to ensure the safety of bridge structure, it began to test and repair the steel box girder of suspension bridge from Humen Bridge high-speed to Guangzhu section of Beijing-Zhuhai high-speed as planned. During the "May Day" holiday in the same year, traffic control was implemented on the high-speed section of Humen Bridge, and trucks and buses with 40 seats and above were banned throughout the day.

Or due to the extension of the fee

Humen Bridge is also known as "one of the most profitable Bridges in China". The one-way toll of 40 yuan, coupled with a steady stream of traffic, makes the bridge increasingly profitable. According to the 2023 annual report released by Yuexiu Transportation Infrastructure, Humen Bridge's shareholder, the average daily toll income of Humen Bridge in 2023 was 2,825,500 yuan/day, an increase of 48.1%, and the average daily toll traffic was 103,600 vehicles/day, an increase of 43.6%.

However, as long-distance commuting has become the norm of today's citizens' lives, high tolls have become a great burden for those who commute to work between the two places. Commuters from Guangzhou's Nansha District to and from Dongguan and Shenzhen have reflected on social media that the single-day toll is about 80 yuan, the high-speed fee for a month is nearly 1,800 yuan, and the transportation cost for a month reaches 3,000 yuan, plus the oil fee. Compared with the cost of other high-speed routes to Shenzhen and Dongguan in other areas of Guangzhou, this cost is relatively high.

Many people have proposed to the government to reduce the Humen Bridge highway toll, in response, Humen Bridge Limited company has said that without the approval of the competent authorities and price departments, can not change the toll standard.

In the case of unable to reduce the fee, the fee period expired free passage has become the expectation of many citizens. According to the "Regulations on the Management of Toll roads" issued by the government in 2004, the operating period of commercial roads should not exceed 30 years. Yuexiu Transport Infrastructure, the shareholder of Humen Bridge, also mentioned in the 2023 annual report that the toll deadline for Humen Bridge is May 8, 2029. This means that the remaining toll life of Humen Bridge has about five years.

However, with the promotion of the Humen Bridge reconstruction and expansion project, it will also mean that the toll period of the Humen Bridge will be further extended.

In addition, while the Humen Bridge reconstruction and expansion to improve congestion, the Pearl River Delta "Shenzhen, Dongguan, Huizhou" and "Zhuhai-Zhongjiang" two major economic circle connecting the only direct road passage - Shenzhen-China Channel is also expected to be open to traffic in June this year. When completed and opened to traffic, it will not only divert the passenger flow of Humen Bridge, improve the traffic congestion of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao regional corridor, but also shorten the driving time from Shenzhen to Zhongshan from about 2 hours to 30 minutes. Editor/Xu Shengpeng