Steel structure of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) won the Ugo Guerrera Prize, the world's top prize in steel structure welding engineering issued by the International Institute of Welding, the bridge Management Bureau announced recently.

Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge [Photo by Li Jianshu / Zhuhai Daily]

The Ugo Guerrera Prize is awarded to outstanding steel structures as well as welding engineering and technical teams around the globe every three years. The National Stadium in Beijing, also known as the Bird's Nest, garnered the award in 2010.

The 55-km (34-mile) HZMB is the world's longest sea-spanning steel-structure bridge, with a service life of 120 years. Its main structure used 425,000 metric tons of steel, which is equal to 10 Bird's Nests. Innovative research was carried out in the bridge's construction, effectively increasing the automatic welding level.