E33, the first curved tube of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge tunnel-island project, was precisely installed on Oct 8 after 26 hours of continuous work, connecting with the eastern artificial island. 

E33 immersed tube installed.

To date, 29 of 33 immersed tubes, comprising 88 percent of the bridge’s 5,664 m underwater tunnel, have been installed. 

This is China’s first immersed tunnel in the open sea, and also the world’s only deeply buried road of its kind, hailed as the “Mount Everest in transportation engineering.” The tunnel is composed of 33 giant immersed tubes, with E1 connecting with the western and E33 with the eastern manmade islands. The west-to-east immersed tube installation was initiated in May 2013.     

Construction site of the E33 immersed tube [Photos courtesy Zhuhai Daily]

By July, the tunnel length had reached 4,860 m with the completion of 28 tubes. The remaining five in the curved section are to be imbedded in inverted order from E33. 

Installation of the remaining tubes is expected to be completed in the first half of next year. Construction on the two islands has also entered the final stage.