Under the surge of the the Pearl River Estuary, two megaton concrete structures quietly took root on both banks. The Lion Ocean Channel crosses the Golden Inner Bay in the form of a double layered suspension cable, welding Nansha and Humen into the same cross river artery, adding another hard core cornerstone to the interconnected framework of the bay area.

The project has reached a critical milestone

Recently, the Shiziyang Channel of the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area Hub Project has made significant progress. The main east and west anchorages of the Shiziyang Bridge, the main bridge, have been completed, and the anchorage of the world's largest suspension bridge has taken root on both sides of the Pearl River estuary. Shiziyang Passage is about 35 kilometers long, starting from Nansha in Guangzhou in the west and ending at Humen and Shatian in Dongguan in the east. It is the first double-layer composite highway passage at the mouth of the Pearl River. The Lion Ocean Bridge has a main span of 2180 meters and crosses the river. After completion, it will win five world championships as a double decker suspension bridge.

Anchors are the anchoring pins of suspension bridges, capable of withstanding over 200000 tons of tension. The east and west anchorages are located in Shatian, Dongguan and Nansha, Guangzhou, with a single foundation diameter of 130 meters and a maximum depth of 36 meters. The concrete pouring volume is 550000 cubic meters, and the total weight is about 1.4 million tons, setting a world record for scale.

Overcoming world-class construction challenges

In response to challenges such as deep soft soil and large foundation pits, the project innovates a composite anchor foundation structure and develops a self-developed rock foundation bearing capacity testing system to fill the domestic technological gap. The soil of Nansha West Anchorage is soft, and nearly 2000 monitoring points have been set up for the project. Real time warning is achieved through digital twins, and the deformation of the foundation pit is controlled within 15 millimeters; The domestic milling machine completed 90 pieces of ground connected walls in 90 days, with construction accuracy better than the design standards.

In the face of the problem of cracking in large volume concrete, the project uses high-performance marine concrete, adopts the jumping pouring process, and is linked with an intelligent temperature control system to effectively suppress temperature cracks. The anchoring system is non replaceable, and the project uses nickel alloy anchor rods to enhance corrosion resistance. A self-developed anchor rod coating robot is used to significantly reduce the bubble rate in the adhesive layer; A large number of sensors are embedded in the anchorage to provide monitoring data for the bridge's century long service. Keywords: Lion Ocean Channel, Suspension Bridge Anchorage, Technological Innovation

Empowering Bay Area Connectivity

The construction of the West Anchorage started in March 2023 and was completed in August 2026, taking more than three years. The current bridge has started the installation of catwalks, and after the completion of the main cable installation in 2027, the construction of ancillary works will be promoted. As a major transportation project during the 15th Five Year Plan period, after the completion of the Lion Ocean Passage, it will connect the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge, the Shenzhen Zhongshan Passage and other passage groups, assisting in the construction of a 1-hour living circle in the Greater Bay Area and promoting deep integration of regional connectivity.Editor/Gong Ziwei