Construction of the Big Hengqin Mt Number 1 tunnel is back on a fast track with breakthrough expected by the end of this month.

Sixty-eight percent of the crew is back on duty. The project team has brought in more than 80 workers from other areas, inasmuch as more than 100 from Hubei Province cannot return due to the epidemic.

Meanwhile, two computer-controlled three-arm drill rigs developed by China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corp have cut the workload of 16 people to five, said Wei Xuehu, Party branch secretary of the project.

Sparkled wall construction of Big Hengqin Mt Tunnel [Photo by Zhong Fan / Zhujiang Evening Post] 

Number 2 tunnel was broken through on Dec 2. Phase I for both involves a 4.9-km (3-mile) north-south section from Central Avenue between Caihong and Xiangjiang roads in Hengqin New Area to a proposed North Qinming Road at Changlan Bay. It will be connected by a 90-m (98-yd) roadbed.

The dual tunnel goes from south of the Xiangjiang Road intersection and under Hengqin Avenue. It then cuts through Big Hengqin Mt. A 150-m (164-yd) bridge will be built above the Chimelong Tunnel leading to a section under the mountain, South Ring (Huandao) Road, and Changlan Bay. The tunnel is to open to traffic by the end of November this year and be a key passageway connecting Hengqin Island to the South Reclamation Area.

Costing 4.35 billion yuan ($616 million) as part of the southern extension of Central Avenue, construction commenced in June 2018.